


Fate's Design

by Tari_Kancheewa



Series: Crimson [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, some relationships are implied
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:26:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25858921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tari_Kancheewa/pseuds/Tari_Kancheewa
Summary: Hermione Granger, dreams of a man clad in Crimson, her fate sealed.Genesis Rhapsodos, dreams of a woman with bushy brown hair, his fate sealed.But Fate will soon find that these two are not to be trifled with.
Relationships: Hermione Granger & Genesis Rhapsodos, Hermione Granger/Tseng, Implied Hermione/OC
Series: Crimson [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876453
Kudos: 2





	1. Scent on the Wind

**Author's Note:**

> This is also on Fanfiction.net, but I think I may try to move away from there as I'm finding more freedom here.  
> Also please excuse the sloppy writing in these early chapters, this story has been ongoing for at least a year.

“Hermione, darling, tea’s ready!” Mrs Granger called.

“Coming mum!” 17-year-old Hermione Granger cuddled her coat and her beaded bag closer, drawing in a deep breath as she braced herself with what she was about to do.  
She walked downstairs to where her parents sat with their backs to her, keeping the tears from her eyes she pointed her wand at them and, with a breathed “obliviate” she erased herself from the minds of her mother and father.

Silent tears fell from her face as she shut the front door for the last time and found a familiar face.  
It was the face of the Crimson Man, she had never heard the words he spoke to her, not even in her dreams, but he often showed up during the day when she was studying. She had first started seeing him by the end of her sixth year at Hogwarts, she had thought he was one of the Weasley children, but that wasn’t possible, only Ron and Ginny remained at Hogwarts.

“Hello, again. Are you here to walk me to the Weasleys’? Thank you.” He never actually followed her, but she knew he was there.  
She apparated to the Burrow where she was greeted by the only Weasley that was aware of what she had done, Ginny.

“Are you okay?” Hermione could only shake her head as she stood in the garden and cried.

“Okay, come on, let’s go inside.” Ginny led the way inside and up to the bedroom that the two girls were sharing where she let Hermione finish crying on her own.  
Hermione had lay down on the bed and cried herself into a light slumber where she dreamt of the Crimson Man.

************************************************************************

Genesis was getting worried about this. It was the fourth time this week he had seen that strange yet beautiful girl.  
His visions of her had begun during the training exercise that he had Sephiroth been doing a couple of months ago, he had spun out of one of Sephiroth’s attacks and parried, catching sight of her over Sephiroth’s shoulder… who, during one of these sessions also looked behind him to see nothing, Genesis had not even taken advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration, but then, neither had he.

He had seen her multiple times since then, reading, writing and laughing with people he couldn’t see. However, when he saw her again last night, she had been walking out of somewhere he could not see.

She had fresh tears falling down her face, she spoken to him, but he couldn’t hear what she had said, he followed to make sure no one hurt her, followed her out to the plate where she sat on a bench crying, before she lay down on said bench and cried herself to sleep.

It broke Genesis’s heart to hear this girl, who’s laughter had filled him with such joy, reduced to a sobbing wreck; he silently vowed to burn the person that had dared to hurt her… wait a minute… where was this sudden anger coming from?

Not knowing what moved him, Genesis knelt in front of her as her sobs subsided and she fell into a light slumber.  
Genesis had always tried not to let this girl fill his thoughts, but every time he saw her he tried to reach out to get her attention, his hand always went through her.

This time Genesis simply wanted to secure a stray piece of her mousy brown, lightly bushy, hair behind her exposed ear, he froze in shock as he realised he _could_ now touch her, it was strange…

“You’re cold,” he took off his duster, placed it over her, before scooping her up, and carried her back into the building, ignoring the looks he was getting from everyone around him, and up to the apartment he shared with two others, Angeal and Sephiroth, who were both out on training.  
Entering his own apartment, he gently placed her onto his bed and, after removing his coat, he covered her over with the duvet.  
He sat there watching her sleep for over an hour, she did not stir once, giving Genesis time to take in more about this girl. The way she breathed as she slept, the pale complexion she had, indicating that either she didn’t get enough sunlight, or she was sick; Genesis went with the first option of lack of sunshine.

He then studied the memory of her clothes, they weren’t strange to him, but neither were they familiar, her pale pink cardigan fit her well as did her beige coloured blouse, clearly this girl was from somewhere like Junon or even a rural area like Gongaga.

“That was harsh, Angeal.” The other two had come back, Genesis flinched at the sound of the front door slamming, the sound stirred his guest, her hazel eyes opened and she sat up.

“Urgh I am going to KILL Fred and George I swear if they slam one more door… wait hold on, this isn’t the Burrow…”

Genesis had bolted out of the door as she had stirred, not wanting to scare the poor girl to death.  
“Sshh!” he snapped at the bickering two, though it was playful it was noisy.

“What is it Gen; do you have another headache?” Angeal asked as Sephiroth lowered his arms to look at his other friend.

“No… I...er… found her, the girl from my dreams, she’s here.” The looks on Sephiroth and Angeal’s faces should have made Genesis laugh, but he was concerned, he didn’t know how he was going to explain how the girl got here, when he himself didn’t know. “She’s just woken up, so please be gentle. I don’t think she knows where she is.”

The two nodded as the door to Genesis’s apartment opened and out stepped the girl, she had a stick in her hand, holding it as though she was using it to defend herself with.  
“Well she certainly is pretty.” Sephiroth stated, drawing the girl’s attention to them.

“Who are you?” she held the stick higher, her eyes shining with hostility, “where am I? How did I get here?”

Genesis stepped in to sooth the girl. “It’s okay.” The girl only moved her eyes and Genesis had to stop as it appeared the girl had telekinetic powers, she had removed Angeal’s Buster Sword from his back and Genesis was now staring down the business end. “We’re not going to hurt you, please put the sword down.”

This time the girl looked directly at him and froze. “You…?” the blade fell to the floor with a clatter, Genesis sent an apologetic look in Angeal’s direction. “Who are you? Why do I keep dreaming about you?”

“I’ll tell you what I can, if you please calm down and stop being hostile. I don’t want to hurt you, but you are threatening my friends with a stick…” Genesis looked at the stick; it was an intricately carved stick that was for sure, “what’s so special about that anyway?”

The girl frowned and looked at her stick, “It’s a wand. It does magic.” Sephiroth chuckled and looked at her sceptically.

“It does _magic_?” this time he laughed loudly.

Genesis also began to giggle, but the girl smirked, flicked her wand, and lifted the Buster Sword up off the floor and back onto Angeal’s back, Genesis thought she was using her telekinesis again, until she then flicked her wand at Sephiroth who was still laughing and muttered “silencio.” Sephiroth then clutched his throat, his voice completely gone. Angeal looked at Sephiroth, Genesis backed away from the girl. “As I said, it does magic. Finite incantatem.”

“What… whoa hey! I can talk!” Sephiroth said, he looked at the girl. “Who are you?”

“My name is Hermione Granger, I am seventeen years old and I have no idea where I am or how I got here.”

Genesis’s eyes lit up, Hermione… “What an unusual name, Hermione...My name is Genesis, the one with the black hair and the big sword is Angeal and the one with the silver hair and the big mouth is Sephiroth.”

“I may have a big mouth but I can still whoop your ass from here to the Northern Crater.”

“That I’d pay to see!”

“Hey who’s side are you on Angeal?!” Genesis whined, a bell like sound rang out beside Genesis, the three turned to see Hermione laughing.

“Oh, it seems like I’d forgotten how to smile! What with the war any everything…”

“What war? You don’t look like you come from Wutai.” Sephiroth interjected. Hermione looked at them and heaved a sigh.

“Okay, how about we start over? You tell me where I am and about yourselves and this place, and I’ll tell you the same thing in return. Sound fair?”

Genesis walked back over to the other two and they huddled together. “Hold on a minute.”

“What do you think?”

“Well she seems harmless enough, but I wouldn’t put it past her to be a danger if we got her angry. But I think we can trust her with the information, what do you think Seph?” Angeal turned to Sephiroth who was deep in thought.

“I think Angeal is right. She is trustworthy… but we’ll have to make sure.” Sephiroth broke away from the trio and approached Hermione who was tall for her age, but still had to look up at Sephiroth.

“Very well, Hermione, we will agree to this. However, you must understand we don’t know who you are nor where you come from. So, we will tell you what you want to know, but we must ask that you keep us and what we tell you a secret, defend this secret with your life, take it to the grave with you if you must, but tell no one of this.” Genesis watched as Hermione’s eyes softened and a gentle smile graced her fine features.

“Of course, and may I ask you three to do the same for me?”

“You can count on it,” Angeal replied. Hermione beamed.

“Come and sit down, I’ll fix us all a drink,” Genesis scurried off to the kitchen, in his dreams he had seen what Hermione liked to drink and how she took it, the other two had come with the years they had been friends.

“Here we go! Try that, Hermione and tell me what you think!” Genesis was eager to get to know this girl, _finally_ someone worth his time!

“Well let’s start with you Seph, Gen and I can do ours in one.” Angeal offered.

“Very well, hmm, let’s see…” Sephiroth told Hermione everything, it was amazing just how comfortable he was around her, mind you, her hands were glowing a little, maybe that was why, maybe she was trying to get them to be comfortable with her.

Genesis watched her all through Sephiroth’s recall of what he wanted to tell her, he could see in her eyes that she knew he was hiding things from her, but she never pushed, never overstepped her line.  
He wondered how she knew that Seph was hiding things and instantly thought that this girl was Turk material... that made things easy for him, as Turks and SOLDIER were allowed relationships as long as they don’t prevent a job well done.

Next came Angeal, he and Genesis explained their shared tale in almost full detail and again Genesis knew she knew they were hiding things, but again she never pushed.  
“Wow, you three must be really strong to make it this far. I’d like to know more about this world… it all sounds so exciting!” Hermione giggled at her own enthusiasm.

“Now it is your turn.” Sephiroth said gently.

“Of course, but two things first, one could I have another cup of tea, please? And two where is the bathroom?”

Once she was guided to the bathroom in Genesis’s apartment, Sephiroth joined Genesis in the kitchen. “You seem to like this one. She never broke eye contact with anyone us as we spoke, but you never took your eye off of her since she sat down.”

“I don’t know what it is, there’s just something about her that sets my soul on fire! Call it what you want but I want to get to know her before I call it anything myself. Ah there she is! And just in time!”

Genesis handed her a fresh cup of tea and they all reconvened back on the sofa, whilst they waited for Hermione to start her tale.  
“Where to start? I guess every story has to have a beginning so I’ll start there…” she stared at the mug in her hand as she began her story. Had she looked up at all during her telling, she would have seen all three SOLDIER 1st Class men staring at her as she told of heartache, of loss, of anger, of pain, of happiness, of friendship, of loyalty and, finally, of war.

“We are about to embark on a journey to find the Horcruxes that I told you about, thinking about it, it seems like a lost cause, but we have to try otherwise we’ll never win… and I will have wiped myself from my parents’ memory for nothing…” Genesis watched in horror as the dam holding her emotions in broke and she just cried.

Not knowing what drove him; he knelt to the floor and held her close, letting her cry.  
“Whoa, everything’s floating. Guess she wasn’t wrong by her Wiccan powers are controlled by her emotions.” Genesis only heard Sephiroth speaking as though he were underwater; the sound of this girl crying was breaking his heart. 

“Hey come on, now it's going to be okay. Come now, hey I have something for you!” it wasn’t really anything for her, but he knew she would go back eventually, she had to, so he went into his room and returned with a materia ball, red in colour, this was a summon, a powerful one at that.

“This is called Phoenix. Keep it around your neck and the three of us will never be far away from you. And I’ll be even closer. If you need to talk, any time, anything at all, just put your hand around this and call my name either out loud or in your head and I’ll come and see you when you sleep. How does that sound?”

Hermione stopped crying and looked at the materia that Genesis had just put around her neck. “You name your marbles?”

“This isn’t a marble; this is how _we_ do magic, look.” Sephiroth knelt beside her and summoned up the blizzard he had in his bracer, letting the ice surround his hand. Hermione gasped.  
“The one Genesis has just given to you is what we call a summon materia, the Phoenix inside will grant you revival of all your comrades each time you summon it, but if the glow of the materia gets too low then you must stop using it for a while so that the Phoenix can regain its strength. Do you understand?” Hermione nodded, understanding completely, but she wanted to know more about materia.

When she voiced her opinions they laughed, “you’ll just have to wait a little bit. We don’t know when you are going to disappear again.” Sephiroth joked.

She got up to return the cup to the counter and stopped. “What is it, Hermione?” Genesis asked coming to stand behind her. “Whoa!” Hermione lurched forwards as though she had been pushed. She screamed and clutched her head, falling to her knees, Genesis, Sephiroth and Angeal panicked.

“Hermione!” They called out to her, but the witch in question didn’t hear them, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell to the side, unconscious she landed in Genesis’s arms and simply faded away.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hermione woke with a gasp, startling Ginny. “Whoa, you okay? You were having quite the vivid dream. I could almost make out what you were saying. Then you started thrashing about so I decided to try and wake you.”

Hermione sat up and looked out of the window, it was night time, she got out of bed and stopped to pick up something that had just fallen to the floor; it was the Phoenix materia that Genesis had given to her. It was wrapped in a thick metal circle, with a leather strap attached to it.

In an almost dreamlike trance, Hermione walked down stairs and out into the garden, not stopping until she reached the fence around the pond.  
She was aware of Ginny and Ron following her, most likely concerned, but she could not take her eyes off the Phoenix materia, its beauty and warmth was a welcome comfort to her, she could hear it singing a song in a tongue that she didn’t know.

Taking in a deep breath she opened her eyes with a smile, there was a deliciously sweet smell on the wind, so nice, in fact, that Hermione didn’t want to go in, but there were other things to do tonight, so she reluctantly went inside when Ron called out to her to say that Remus had just appeared.


	2. Sunset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione becomes a decoy for Harry to be moved.  
> Genesis is in Junon, somehow watching the whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'll be flitting and floating from Harry Potter books and films, as well as character to character, don't worry you'll know who is who.

It was all going well for the moment, but as the day turned to night and Hermione arrived outside number four Privet Drive, she felt a twist in her stomach, something is going to go wrong, she thought as Mad-Eye explained to everyone what was going on.

“Okay, everyone into their pairs, and be quick about it! Granger!” Hermione spun round to face her once Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher (sort of), “I will not tell you again, take that blasted marble from around your neck!”

“Oh, leave her, Mad-Eye. It’s her good luck charm.” Kingsley soothed, giving Hermione a wink as he helped her onto the Thestral.  
They had separated into twos, a guardian and a decoy Harry Potter, whilst the real one went with Hagrid.

Mad-Eye Moody had gone with Mundungus Fletcher, Fred had gone with his father, Arthur, George with Remus, Fleur with Bill, Tonks had gone with Ron and Hermione, herself, had gone with Kingsley.

No sooner had she gotten into the air with Kingsley, there were spells being fired in every direction. Clutching the Phoenix materia firmly attached around her neck, Hermione had started shooting off spells that she knew Harry knew and used often.  
“Expelliarmus!” she shouted; the Death Eaters began to swarm around the two.

“Can you get rid of them?!” Kingsley called out to her.

“Do you even need to ask? Ha!” Hermione was standing up on the Thestral as the two spoke, the Death Eaters were getting closer, she leapt off of the Thestral summoning on her own Wiccan magic and sending it shooting at every Death Eater that was close enough to her.

Suddenly something grabbed her wand arm, turning she saw snake eyes, red snake eyes… “No!” She screamed, “let go of me!”

“Where is he?! Tell me now, Mudblood, and I will kill you quickly!”

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Something dropped from the sky and landed onto Voldemort’s back, effectively dragging him to the ground… Hermione saw was a flash of crimson, Genesis…?

“But how?” she breathed as Kingsley caught her on the Thestral; she looked back, seeing Voldemort aiming from the others.  
Kingsley and Hermione continued on their own path toward a safe house by the coast when one particularly nasty spell had shot past Kingsley and cut across Hermione’s right eye, she screamed.

“Hermione, are you alright?!” She gave a positive reply, not wanting to worry him, but really, she was confused, she was flying through the sky on a Thestral, wasn’t she? She wasn’t in a strange town by the ocean standing on what she could see was a canon staring at… wait was that Sephiroth?!

_“Do you have him, Angeal?” He turned to face her, his brow furrowed in confusion._

_“Yeah, he’s okay; I’m bringing him up now.” Angeal’s voice sounded faint to her, as though he as far away._

“Hermione we’re here, come one, let’s wait until the time…” The Thestral landed and jerked Hermione back into the reality she knew she had to be in, what had happened to Genesis? “Oh my god why did you not tell me you were hurt?” Kingsley tilted her head to the left and inspected the injury.

“I didn’t want to worry you; you had more important things to worry about than a little injury like this. Ow!”  
Kingsley’s hand had jerked in shock and poked Hermione’s injury. He apologised and then pulled her over to the Portkey that was the take them to the Burrow. As soon as she was back, instinctive relief flooded her and she raced into Harry’s arms who greeted her with equal relief.

Once she had a minute to herself, though, Hermione clutched the Phoenix materia and sent a thought into it, ‘if you can, tell Genesis that I’m okay, and thank him for helping me.’ The little glass ball became warm and the light shone a little brighter, somehow Hermione knew that he had heard her thought.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hermione’s emotions were a wreck and everyone left in the house knew it. Her eye hurt like hell, but she refused to let anyone treat it stating that George’s injury was far more severe than her own and should be seen to first. Add that to the fact that Mad-Eye was dead and everyone was blaming everyone else… until it calmed down, but by then Hermione’s stress had reached its peak.

“I’m going to bed.” She said suddenly, needing a comfort that she could only find in sleep.

“Night, Hermione.” Chorused through the room as she walked up the stairs.

“You had better be there Genesis, I really need someone to talk to…” she breathed, as she got into her pyjamas and clutched the materia in her hands and thought of her crimson angel.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now as far as the young witch was concerned, she was just simply falling asleep, but when Ginny came in to see if her friend was okay, she instantly went pale and ran back downstairs to a still grieving group.

“Hermione’s gone!”

*************************************************************************

Genesis was going to be in the doghouse when he got home, he was on a routine mission with Sephiroth and Angeal, and all day he had been seeing two worlds at once, the world he was familiar with, and a world he had never seen before.

The only thing he knew was the slender figure of Hermione as she rode on what could only be described as a skeletal Pegasus.  
He had followed the two (who were clearly flying) right up to the edge of the Mako cannon, Sister Ray, and what he had seen had made his heart stop.

“What the hell is going on, Gen?” Angeal and Sephiroth had finally found their wayward friend, but his behaviour was odd. “What can you see?” Angeal asked, he and Sephiroth had come to learn very quickly when Genesis was seeing Miss Granger. Though he never let on that he was seeing her, after all he _was_ the only one who could. His only saving graces were Sephiroth and himself, they had seen the girl and so knew that she was real. Granted that had only been yesterday, but usually Genesis only ever saw her in his sleep, so what was he seeing now?

“She’s in flight, on a strange creature, but that is not what bothers me.”

“What is it?” Sephiroth asked he was concerned; Genesis was too close to the edge of the cannon.

“I _know_ it’s her, but it doesn’t look like her, almost as though she has a spell on her… oh sweet Goddess!” Genesis exclaimed, backing up to where Sephiroth was standing, he breathing was heavy, Sephiroth saw his eyes flickering this way and that, until his eyes followed one image in particular that soon found Sephiroth being pulled to the floor.

“What are they?” 

“What are what, Gen? You are the only one seeing this!” Sephiroth looked over his friend’s shoulder, for a second he could have sworn he could see red eyes, with pupils like his…

“GENESIS!” The other two SOLDIERs shot after Genesis as he suddenly got up and ran to the edge of the cannon, his eyes angry, filled with pure hatred.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” He jumped off the cannon.

Angeal and Sephiroth pulled to a stop seeing that he wasn’t there for a second, but found him in the water the next.   
_There was no way he hit the water that fast_ , Sephiroth thought as Angeal raced down the side on the cannon to his best friend.  
“Do you have him, Angeal?” he called down, turning his head, he thought someone was watching him, but there was no one up here besides the three of them.

“Yeah, he’s okay; I’m bringing him up now.” A few minutes later Sephiroth was aiding his friend in pulling Genesis back onto the cannon before pulling Angeal up himself.

“What the hell was that all about Genesis?” Sephiroth snapped, concern quickly turning to anger.  
Genesis turned to face him, his eyes wide in fear and caution. Suddenly Sephiroth calmed down and approached Genesis gently, “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for, but you scared us when you took a swan dive off the cannon.” He placed a comforting hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “Come on, let’s go and get a drink.”  
Once they had got their drinks they sat in the corner where no one (that was smart enough anyway) would bother them, they began to talk in voices too low for unenhanced civilians and others to hear.

“Okay, tell us what happened, Gen.” The walk to the bar had been a quiet one with Genesis becoming withdrawn, deep in thought.

“I jumped off the canon because she was being attacked, by a humanoid creature with snake eyes the colour of blood. She was fending off several other monsters before then, her power was incredible.  
When I tackled you to the cannon deck, it was because she had shot a creature out of the air and it flew in your direction, never thought about it, just didn’t want it to hit you. Turns out it went right through us anyway… heh, should have realised that when I found myself stood in mid-air.”

“But you were on the cannon.” Sephiroth interrupted. Genesis was doodling on a piece of paper as he had been speaking.

“Yeah, it’s strange, I knew I was stood on the Sister Ray but at the same time I knew I was stood in mid-air, watching her. Anyway, after Seph and I hit the deck I looked up to see her jump off whatever that thing was that she was riding, pulling on all of her Wiccan magic and throwing it at any creature stupid enough to go near her. The rider still on the creature was racing to catch her, that was when I saw those red eyes, eyes that sent a wave of cold dread through my body.   
So, when I saw that _thing_ grab her and threaten to kill her I just jumped.  
I hit him and we fell, I was there long enough to hear him ask me who I was, before Angeal was dragging me to the edge of the cliff.” He had painted the picture perfectly, Angeal and Sephiroth looked at the piece of paper he had pushed in front of them, it was the scene he had been describing, the girl, the creatures, the rider and the snake-like creature holding onto the girl.

“Gaia, Genesis… was she okay?” Sephiroth looked up at Genesis, his eyes once again misted over.

“I don’t know. I didn’t get a good enough look at her.” He yawned, “Gaia I’m tired, I think that took a bit out of me…” Genesis stopped talking, staring at the door to the bar that the trio were currently in. There, stood in the street in her pyjamas with her back to them, was Hermione.

Genesis shot up out of the chair and raced out of the bar; once he got outside, he slowed to a walk, not wanting to scare her.  
“Hermione?”

The young witch turned around to face Genesis, her hairstyle was different, the parting was wrong, it made most of her hair fall over her right eye. “Hello, Genesis.” She sounded tired, very tired.

Genesis felt Sephiroth and Angeal move out of the bar and over to the side, Hermione’s eyes swept over to the two, she gave them a smile. Genesis reached out his hand to put her parting back to the way he had found himself liking, stepping back, he realised why she had done it. “What happened to you eye?” he asked.

The girl was supporting a nasty looking cut stretching from the corner just past her right eye and disappearing into her hairline. Looking to the side, Hermione shook her head to pull the hair that framed her face from behind her ears, effectively hiding the cut from view.  
“Shortly after I saw you drop from the sky, thanks for that by the way,” Genesis smiled, “a spell had been shot at my partner’s shoulder, but it missed and cut the area just past my eye…”   
Genesis looked at her, other than the cut, she seemed unharmed, but he had spent a lot of time with the Turks thanks to Sephiroth’s friendship with Tseng, he knew when someone was nervous.

Seeing her shiver from the Junon wind, Genesis took off his beloved duster and draped it over her shoulders. “There’s no need to worry, you’re safe here. Come, we were just about to go and get some food; we’ll get you some new clothes and then go and eat.”

“New clothes?” Hermione looked up at Genesis as he led her over to Sephiroth and Angeal.

“Well you can’t very well come to a restaurant in your pyjamas, nice though they are.” Hermione suddenly looked down at herself; it would appear that she was unaware of her dress code.

“Oh my god how embarrassing!” she mumbled turning almost to the same colour as Genesis’s coat. This was greeted with a chuckle from the trio as they led the way to the nearest clothes store.  
Telling her that money wasn’t a problem, the three SOLDIERs sat back and watched the young witch go through the aisles.

“What happened to her eye?” Angeal asked once she was out of earshot.

Genesis explained what she had told him, “Who would want to hurt _her_ though? I thought it was her friend that they were after.”

“That’s why they targeted me.” The three SOLDIERs looked up, not realising that she had been stood there.  
“We had all agreed to the danger, but it was a safety precaution. We never expected it to actually happen, Ron and I would never have gone otherwise, his mother would never have allowed it. It was a frightening thing to be chased like that, and then to have him grab me as well…”

“But Genesis said that although he knew it was you, he said that it didn’t look like you.” Sephiroth cut in before she closed up.

“Polyjuice potion.” She giggled at the confused looks from the men before her, “When properly brewed the Polyjuice potion will allow a person to change themselves temporarily into the physical form of another.” She explained in further detail the events of the night before changing the subject.  
“I can’t choose from any of these clothes they’re all too nice.” Rolling his eyes, Genesis got up and huffed dramatically.

“Honestly, I am never thinking that you are a typical woman again!” he stated playfully, earning him a swat across the arm by the witch in question.

“Oh, shut up!” she giggled as the four of them picked out an entire wardrobe for her, including something to wear tonight at dinner.  
Genesis laughed at Hermione’s reaction to the price, when she stated that she’d pay them back, he shrugged it off.

Once the SOLDIERs had convinced Hermione to leave most of her things at the hotel (she was going to share their room, as nobody else knew she was here) and she had changed into the periwinkle blue dress that had been bought for her, Genesis followed on behind her back down the stairs and out into the night air.

The periwinkle blue suited Hermione perfectly, it was medium cut and strapless, it was knee length and belled at skirt, she had white shoes and a white shawl, and a white clutch bag that held her wand. Her hair was put up in to an elegant bun, held together with the clip that Genesis had bought her.

“So where are we going?” she asked, Genesis was broken out of his thoughts as they walked from the hotel to where they were going.  
“Junon Oriental… a Chinese restaurant?”

“No, it’s a Wutanese restaurant,” Sephiroth replied holding the door open for her. He leant down to mumble in her ear. “What is Chinese?”

Genesis watched as Hermione giggled and told him she’d explain once they were sat down.  
She never got the chance to explain though, as almost immediately members of their fan clubs pining for their autographs surrounded the trio. Ordinarily Genesis would have lapped up the attention, but when he saw Hermione take herself out of the crowd, he found himself getting angry.

His anger was noticed by Angeal and Sephiroth. They attempted to calm him down with looks, but they knew it wouldn’t work.

 _Calm down, Genesis, I’m still here, I can wait._ Hermione’s voice was like a remedy for a nasty head cold, it was a sweet relief as he did as he was told and calmed himself down, allowing himself to act in his usual manner.

It took the three of them ten minutes to finish with all of their fans; it was only because of the intervention of the owner of Junon Oriental that Genesis was finally able to get back to Hermione. The Crimson commander looked at her as she watched in mild humour and fascination as the owner herded the gaggling fans out of his restaurant.  
“Forgive me, General, Commanders, they came out of nowhere. Now then a table for three?”

“Actually, it’s a table for four.” Genesis signalled for Hermione to come back to him, the owner’s eyes widened at this.

“Of course, commander Rhapsodos. Forgive me for not greeting you properly, miss.”

“Not at all, it’s what I get for travelling with the Golden Trio.” Hermione took it all in her stride; Genesis was impressed by how fast she learnt. The owner showed them to the best seat in the house (usually reserved for the President and his son) and left them to order.  
“Okay, now I’m out of my comfort zone.” She laughed; fortunately, her company was used to Wutanese food.

“I’d recommend these.” Genesis leant over the table to show Hermione what he meant, he wasn’t ordering them himself, but it was what he’d had on his first visit here with Tseng and Sephiroth.  
“They’re great way to get you used to the foods here.” Hermione gave him that beaming grin of hers and he felt a swell of joy.

Three hours later and the four of them were laughing and joking around, Hermione asked for a gil to buy a newspaper to read once they got back to the hotel, Genesis could see the black bold the headline that read **AVALANCHE STRIKES THE RURAL GONGAGA, SHINRA STRIKES BACK.**

“Wow and I thought we had problems back home.” Hermione stated as she walked back to the others, stowing the newspaper under her arm.  
They got back to the hotel and Hermione changed back into her pyjamas, Sephiroth had bought a bottle of wine to share with them and they sat talking about life in general. As the sun began to set, Genesis saw Hermione’s gaze turn to the window, her mouth open slightly.  
Smiling to himself, he drained his wine glass and took her by the hand. “Come with me.” He said, pulling her up and leading her up onto the roof.

“Oh wow!” he smiled as she walked up to the edge of the roof, joining her there he, too, stared out at the sunset.  
It was beautiful, the golden yellow turning burn orange as it set behind the water, turning it to liquid fire.

Genesis soon found his eyes wandering, however, to see what the setting sun’s rays did to her. His eyes did not disappoint, the setting sun coated her face and set her hair to a fiery auburn. Her eyes opened slightly as she basked in the light, Genesis saw them sparkle from the reflected water. “Beautiful.”

The word was out of Genesis’s mouth before he could stop it. Hermione looked at him and he tried to cover his tracks, “isn’t it?” he waved a gloved hand out to the sight.

Sighing, Hermione nodded, “it is. Thank you, Genesis, for bringing me up here and helping me to forget what I now have to go home to.”

Genesis blinked. “What?” Was she leaving already?

“I have to go, someone is calling my name. I’ve got to wake up.” Sadness filled those eyes as he watched Hermione walk up to him and kiss him gently on the cheek.

“I hope I see you again. Oh! And tell Sephiroth and Angeal that I said goodbye.” As she spoke, she was going transparent, Genesis’s eyes widened in horror.

“No! I don’t _want_ you to go, Hermione wait!” Genesis reached for her but she had vanished before he did.  
“NO!”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis’s pain was witness by his two friends and one other; this other was the one responsible for the two meeting each other, for now though, it would seem that Hermione’s journey on Gaia was over.  
The Other wandered back to where Hermione was, knowing that the girl had returned from Gaia, she watched on eagerly awaiting the confrontation that was to come.


	3. Confrontations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione wakes from her dream, but was it really a dream?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'll apologise now, to everyone who has read this chapter before now, I am SO sorry that I didn't realise sooner that there was a huge error at the end of the chapter -basically I had deleted a huge chunk and not realised it, lol- so I've fixed that!
> 
> Enjoy

Hermione opened her eyes to find herself… standing.  
“Wh-what the…?” had she been sleepwalking? Oh, she hoped not, that would be embarrassing.  
She looked out of the window to see Molly hanging out the washing, getting dressed, and grabbing the paper that had materialised on her pillow “ShinRa Times, heh.” Hermione walked downstairs and straight into Harry.

“H-Hermione?” Harry stuttered, looking as though he were staring at a ghost.

“Good morning to you too, Harry.”

Suddenly the house was full of people having heard Harry and Hermione talking.  
“Where the bloody hell have you _been_?!” exclaimed Ron as hugs were passed around, now Hermione was confused.

“I’ve been asleep… in bed.” Hadn’t she?

“No, when I went to check on you last night, you weren’t there, it looked as though you had got into your pyjamas, got into bed and disapparated.” Ginny stated.

“Hermione, dear, where did you go? Did you go home?” Molly asked.

“I have no home to go back to.” Her reply came instinctively, she couldn’t understand, she had just fallen asleep.

* _No, you travelled to another dimension._ * a voice said, * _I was the one who took you there, I just thought that it would be easier for you to travel there whilst you thought you were sleeping, I never expected the redhead to notice you were gone._ * 

“Oh well that would have been nice to have been told!” she snapped. Mumbling an apology when she realised the voice had been in her head, Hermione headed outside, suddenly feeling crowded.

“ _Now_ where are you going?”

Growling Hermione spun round to face Ron, “outside to get some _air_ I feel crowded, okay?! Just leave me alone!”   
Hermione spun on her heel and walked out to the bench at the end of the garden; she watched the Gnomes running around and fell into her thoughts.  
She wondered where that voice had come from…

“Right beside you.” Hermione gasped and jumped up, wand in hand, the figure was that of a girl no older than Hermione herself. The girl held up her hands as a sign of peace, “please sit back down Hermione Granger and I will explain why I am doing this.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unbeknownst to Hermione, Harry and Ron were eavesdropping on the conversation, having seen Hermione sit down to talk to the stranger that had not set any alarm bell of in the house, they had become very suspicious.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“You’re a very intellectual young lady. Also, you have a fire that burns brightly, but are never permitted to use said fire in case you hurt someone, you’re kind and gentle and, with a little training, exactly what I need to help stop a catastrophe from happening.”

“Heh, you’re talking to the wrong person, if it’s a catastrophe you want to stop then you’re better off talking to my friend Harry, he’s the Chosen One not me.”

“He has his own problems to deal with. You are still going to fight your war, but then once it is done, I will need you to assist me in averting one in the dimension you have just returned from.”

Hermione was in shock, “what do you mean?”

“I can only say this, the next time you see commander Genesis Rhapsodos, insist on healing his wound and make him smile. Make sure he doesn’t forget you, otherwise it’ll be over before it has begun. Now I must leave you for now. We will meet again, farewell Hermione Granger.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry and Ron watched the figure bow to Hermione before disappearing; they then exchanged a look and crept back up to the house.

“Breath a word about this and I’ll castrate the both of you.” Hermione said suddenly staring at the spot where Harry and Ron were stood.

Harry pulled the cloak off them and looked Hermione in the eyes, “only if you tell us what’s going on.”

“Keep it to yourselves and I will tell you later.” She said as she fiddled around with the marble around her neck, not looking at either of them.  
Harry and Ron shared another glance before walking off.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hermione watched Harry and Ron go back into the house, suddenly feeling betrayed. Didn’t they trust her to go walking around the garden alone? But then again, she _had_ just been talking to a stranger that hadn’t set off the security system around the house, so she supposed she could let them off.

“Oh Genesis, what am I going to do?” she breathed. Pulling the paper she had brought down with her, she proceeded to read it wanting to know more about ShinRa and AVALANCHE.  
Ten minutes later, she was smirking at some of the things that were written in the paper. _God this is almost like reading the Daily Prophet_ , she thought as she turned to the middle page where she saw what she had been hoping for.

Taking up both of the middle pages, dressed in their best military clothes were Genesis Sephiroth and Angeal. None of them had smiles on their faces, according to the article on the opposite sides of both pages, the picture was taken just before a recent battle with Wutai, she continued to read the paper before walked back into the house and up to where she had put her bag and placed the paper inside. “I’ll need that for tonight, the boys are never going to believe me.”

Feeling a shift behind her, Hermione spun round, to face the figure from before. “Okay when you said we’d meet again, I didn’t think you meant ten minutes.”

“This is not the meeting I had told you about. There are some questions I would like to ask of you, if you don’t mind that is.”

Hermione sighed, “fine, but I want to ask you something first.” She waited for the figure to nod before continuing. “Who are you?”

“You can just call me Other.”

Hermione cocked her head in confusion, “Other?”

“Yes, Other. Now, Hermione Granger I will show you several images and I want you to tell me if you have the capability of these things, even if they seem out of character.” Hermione placed a hand on the side of her head and frowned, Other didn’t wait for her answer before showing Hermione images that made her blood freeze.

The image was of herself, she was in what looked like a _very_ expensive business suit, small-heeled shoes and half finger gloves, the whole attire, except the shirt, was black. In her right hand, she held her wand, but attached to her right hip she saw the unmistakable shape of a gun and holster. Her frown deepened as she saw on her left hip a katana blade, since when did _she_ know how to use swords?

_“Your analytical mind is something that others that wear that suit value.” Other came out of the shadow behind her, “as well as other things, such as your beauty, your elegance, they will teach you how to use it to your advantage, how to negotiate, how to fight, how to become what they are. This, Hermione Granger, is how you will save the lives of the three SOLDIERs that consider you a friend.”_

“Hermione?” the witch in question shrieked and pulled back from the hand that suddenly touched her arm. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see who was in front of her.

“G-George?”

“Yeah, were you expecting someone else?” George stood there, toothbrush sticking out of his ear, with his hand outstretched to pull her up, she took it and allowed him to haul her to her feet.  
Fred also stood there, in the doorway; naturally, you never saw one without the other.

“No, you just startled me.”

“I’m not surprised, you seemed to be deep in meditation, but I saw a tear fall and wondered what the matter was.” Hermione looked up at George, as the hand that helped her up brushed over the now scabbed over cut on the side of her face.

“I… don’t know what’s going on with me lately, if I’m honest, George.”

“Where did you go to, y’know, when you disappeared?” Fred and George sat down on the edge of Ginny’s bed, Hermione sat in between them.

“To a place where there is a war, but there’s no one living in mortal fear of their lives, a beautiful place where things are similar to here, but not exactly the same…” she blurted, pulling on the memory of the place she had last seen Genesis, Hermione conjured up the image for the twins to see.

“Oh wow!”

“That is beautiful!”

“Where is this?” they asked in unison.

“I don’t know where it is, I only know that it isn’t on this Earth. She breathed, letting the image go before it got to the personal part; it had made her heart ache as she heard Genesis beg her not to leave.

“Blimey, you are one messed up witch… no offence!” Fred said quickly, Hermione smiled and swatted him on the shoulder.

“Come on, Hermione, let’s go and help mum with the housework, she’s already drafted everyone else into it.” George held out his hand to her and flashed her a brilliant smile, taking the hand she allowed the boys to apparate with her downstairs.

“We’ve got her, mum!”

“Thank you, George, now if you and Fred could go and give your father a hand with the gnomes, Hermione dear, would you mind helping Ginny with the washing, please?”

“Of course, Mrs Weasley.”  
So that was how she spent the rest of the day, helping around the house and in making preparations for the wedding on Saturday.  
That night she went up to Ron’s room to find almost every Weasley child there, save Bill and Charlie.

“What’s this?” she inquired as she entered the room, newspaper in hand.

“We all want to know, Hermione. We promise that we won’t tell anyone.” Ginny replied.

“Yeah, look see no extendible ears or listening devices of any kind.” George said, this time he was without his toothbrush.  
Sighing Hermione gave in and sat on Ron’s bed, searching for the middle pages of the ShinRa Times.

“Since the beginning of last year at Hogwarts I have been having dreams about a man in a crimson coat. They were just dreams, or so I thought.   
Until one day, about a month before the school was attacked, I was studying in the library and saw him sat the other side of the table reading. I couldn’t hear his voice, but he was talking with someone as he read, clearly, he’d read the book before.   
After that, not only did I dream about him, I saw him around the castle, in the grounds, on the Quidditch pitch and even in Hogsmede, on the Hogwarts Express on the way home as well. I thought I was going mad at first.  
But then I saw him stood outside my home when I came here the other night, he stayed with me until I apparated here. That was the night I saw him for real.”

“Saw him for real?” Ron asked, taking advantage of Hermione’s momentary silence.

“Yeah, I fell asleep on Ginny’s bed and when I woke up to the sound of a door slamming, I got up to scold you two thinking it was you. Only to find that I wasn’t _in_ Ginny’s room, or the Burrow for that matter. I was somewhere else. A strange, yet comfortable, room.   
Thinking I’d been kidnapped I pulled my wand out from under my sleeve and walked out into a large living room. That was when I saw him. The man that I’d been dreaming about. It turns out _he_ had also been dreaming about me.   
He had his two friends with him as well; I think it was a shared apartment as there were three other doors besides the one I came out of.”

Hermione let that sink in for a minute whilst she straightened out the paper. “These three are the men. The one in the middle, his name is Sephiroth, he’s the General of the army in that world, the one on his left is Angeal, Commander and second in command of the same army, on his right is Genesis, also a Commander, he is the third in command.   
They are known by the public as the Golden Trio, and they have a _lot_ of fangirls.” She added that last bit in for a joke.

“I can see why, they are _gorgeous_!” Ginny exclaimed. Hermione laughed. “So, what about last night?”

“That was where it gets complicated, somewhere along the lines Genesis entered our world, he was the reason You-Know-Who didn’t kill me.  
When I went to bed last night, I swear down blind I went to sleep,” even though now I know I didn’t, she thought to herself.  
“And when I woke up I was walking in the unfamiliar streets of a port city. I don’t know what the name is, I never asked. But not long after I had stopped to admire the oversized canon they had there, Genesis’s voice called out to me.  
It turns out all three of them were there for a routine mission to somewhere.” Pulling out her wand Hermione conjured up the same image that she had shown Fred and George.   
“This is the last thing I saw before I came back.” She halted the image again, before it got personal. She wanted to be the only one that knew about that part.

“Well… that’s quite the tale.” Fred stated slowly as he looked at the title of the newspaper, “and one I’m inclined to agree with as I’ve never heard of Shinr-ay…”

Hermione laughed, “it’s pronounced Shinr-ah, Fred. And you can think what you want.” She picked up the middle pagers of the paper, put them back into their original place and folded the paper up. Before saying her goodnights and turning in for the night, somehow knowing that she would not be seeing Genesis again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again I apologise to everyone who read the original shambles of this chapter


	4. Pain

_Five more days and then we are leaving… I hope I get to see you before then, Genesis._ She thought as she got up out of her makeshift bed, the Phoenix materia glowed in the darkness of her blanket.

The days went on with her helping out the youngest Weasley with preparations for the wedding.  
After going through an interrogation by Molly about why they were not returning to Hogwarts, Hermione took note that Molly never gave jobs out to Harry, Ron and herself as a group, most likely out of fear that they would be discussing battle plans for after the wedding.   
Little did Molly know, Hermione already had a battle strategy for after the wedding.

As the days turned to night, Hermione felt a surge of disappointment when, after the first night, Genesis did not appear in her dreams, nor did she travel to his world. Silently she wondered if Other had something to do with it.

The day before the wedding was Harry’s birthday, he had already said that he didn’t want a fuss and Hermione hoped that he would like the present she had bought him…

“Happy birthday, Harry!” she greeted as he came downstairs.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hermione didn’t see the Other stood at the other end of the kitchen, stood beside her was another other, this one was called Brother, he was Other’s brother by birth. Whilst Other had been overseeing Hermione’s side of the story, Brother had been overseeing Genesis whilst she was away.

“Are you sure he’s ready for this? He has just been injured.” Brother spoke softly knowing that the chatty Hermione would hear them regardless of where her focus was.

“Yes, I am sure. He could do with a friend outside his little circle to confide in.”

“Very well, sister. I shall remain here, this time. You can go and see Genesis, the last time he thought I was you; he actually threw a fireball at me! I have never had to run so fast in my short life-time!”

Chuckling the herself, Other returned to Gaia, leaving Brother to watch over her Chosen One. “Watch her carefully, Brother, for she is an interesting sight.”

*************************************************************************

Genesis was in pain. His shoulder was hurting as though a Chocobo had just decided to kick him. He knew what had caused it, his own jealousy over Sephiroth’s hero status.  
As he walked through the corridors towards their shared apartment, Genesis felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, glancing out of the left corner of his eyes and never breaking his stride knowing all too well that the Turks were watching him, Genesis saw that the reason for his unease was Other.

 _You will see her soon, Genesis Rhapsodos._ Other spoke softly to him before vanishing once again.  
Shaking his head and flinching at the sharp pain that raced through his shoulder, Genesis entered the apartment to find Angeal and Sephiroth already there.

“Sephiroth…” Genesis spoke to get his attention.

“Yes?” The General stood to face him, he was half a head taller that Genesis himself, even so, Genesis kept his eyes on Sephiroth.

Taking in a deep breath, Genesis walked up to Sephiroth and held out his hand. “I apologise for what happened today, I’m afraid I got a little carried away.”

To Genesis’s surprise, Sephiroth smiled and shook his head, placing a gentle hand on what he knew was Genesis’s injured shoulder. “It’s alright; I was as much to blame as you.”

“I think we all are.” Piped up Angeal.

That evening Sephiroth invited Genesis and Angeal to join him for a meal with the second in command of the Turks, Tseng. So dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a grey shirt, Genesis had left his red long-coat at the apartment and instead wore a dark green-fleeced jumper, Genesis joined them at the door.

He was a dear friend to Sephiroth and obviously, by the way he greeted Genesis, he knew about the injury.  
“So any luck on locating her?” Sephiroth asked as Genesis took a sip from his wine glass. For the best part of five weeks, Genesis had not seen hide nor hair of his golden flower. Sephiroth and Angeal had convinced him to go and see Tseng, who had been looking for her in his spare time for the trio.   
After what Genesis and Hermione had described to the other two, even Sephiroth and Angeal were concerned for the young witch, though not as much a Genesis.

“I have searched the planet-wide databases that we have on people who have a natural ability to use materia, even searched for the specific materia that Genesis had given her just to try and narrow the field.   
However, nothing has come up. I’m inclined to say that either the girl is a very good liar,” this caught Genesis’s attention, “or she was a clone of some sort. I cannot say that she was a figment of Genesis’s imagination because the two of you have seen her twice as well…” Tseng’s eyes wandered to the TV and paled.   
“What in the name of Leviathan is _that_?!” Tseng leapt out of his chair and backed up behind his chair, gun in hand.

What could only be described as a potato with legs as it came running across the room, being chased by...  
“Hermione!”

“Stupefy!” the young witch called catching the walking potato with a gleeful laugh. “This’ll teach you for biting Mrs Delacour’s ankle!” the young witch levitated the walking potato and threw out and away to what they guessed was a sunset as the girl shielded her eyes, a frown of confusion suddenly crossed her face.

To the surprise to everyone in the room, Hermione turned to look directly at Tseng. “Who are you?” Her eyes travelled over the still stunned Turk before widening, “oh my god… y-you’re… Ah!” Hermione jolted forward, her usually lightly bushy hair now hanging in wet rat’s tails as she turned and faced her attacker.

“George Weasley you are going to be losing that other ear when I’m through with you! Take that!” Suddenly it was as if the three SOLDIERs and the Turk were in a movie scene, they were all still stood watching a large-scale water fight ensue. None of them moved for fear of startling the people.

“Genesis… was that the girl I’m supposed to be looking for?” Having finally regained his composure, the second in command of the Turks turned to face an equally stunned third in command of the ShinRa army.

Genesis could only nod in reply.

He was the first one to move, he looked around the garden in wonder. “It looks like they’re planning a party of some sort.” He stated motioning for the others to join him, “it’s okay, they can’t see us. WHOA!” Genesis had been stood behind a young girl with dark red hair as another water bomb was thrown in her direction; it had missed her and gone through Genesis.

“Haha thank Gaia that was transparent, otherwise that would have been a good shot!” Genesis stuck out his tongue at Tseng’s remark and went back to searching for his golden flower; there!

“There she is!” he pointed in her direction to see her stood with two more boys, one was a redhead, must be his house, Genesis thought. The other boy had black hair, green eyes and a lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As it stood now Hermione, Harry and Ron couldn’t see their transparent guests, the two divine beings saw to that. Other and Brother were watching from a distance.  
Genesis watched the trio before him; he wanted to see how close they were to her…

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Urgh I swear George did that on purpose!” Hermione exclaimed as she ran her wand over her hair drying it instantly.  
Her head shot up, however, when she heard someone calling her name, “Genesis?”

Harry and Ron spun round to face her, “is he here”?

“N-no, I just thought I heard him.” She didn’t tell them about the stranger in the black suit, that man was to be in her future… Hermione didn’t want to tell the boys that, otherwise they may have gotten the wrong impression.

The Delacour family had arrived about an hour ago and Fred and George had become bored, so they started throwing water balloons at Harry and Ron who, in turn, threw them back, suffice to say, the Delacour’s didn’t mind one bit.

*************************************************************************

The image of the soaked and exhausted group soon faded away and Genesis felt himself torn between wanting to go back to Tseng’s apartment and staying with Hermione…  
“Genesis?” he turned to see Sephiroth frowning at him.

“What?” Did he have something on his face?

“You’re… disappearing…” Shocked, Genesis looked at his hand and saw that he was indeed disappearing.

“Whoa!” The ground beneath him vanished and Genesis fell…

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“It is done. Now Genesis will get to see Hermione safely through this war.” Other stated.

“No! Not yet he won’t!” Brother stated suddenly, Other looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“We still have to wait for his degradation to give him his wing then he can stay with her. Until then Genesis will be back and forth from his world to hers, and Hermione, Harry and Ron will be back and forth from their world to his.” Brother waved his arm towards the trio who were setting plates up.

“I wasn’t planning on letting Harry and Ron go with her…” Other frowned, now this was going to get serious.

“You can’t expect them not to notice her gone once they’ve left, sister. Besides, it will only be three times that Harry and Ron will be able to go and come back, the fourth time they will either stay or leave for good.”  
Brother had a good point, but Other just couldn’t shake the feeling that it may hinder Hermione in what Other had planned for her…

Or it could spur her on….

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hermione, Ron and Harry stilled, as did the rest of the guests, “what was zat?” asked Fleur, everyone had their wands out and pointing in the same direction, they rose higher when someone walked out of the reeds.

“Urgh where the hell am I?” Hermione gasped at the sound of a very familiar voice.

“Genesis?!” Hermione exclaimed, lowering her wand, Hermione dodged the hands that tried to grab her and raced to catch the Crimson Commander as he tripped over a garden gnome.

“Whoa, hello Hermione! Ow, oh no be careful!” Hermione had caught him underneath his left shoulder, he must be injured, she thought her mind suddenly flashed back to what Other had said.

“Hermione?” Genesis stilled and stiffened, Hermione could feel the unease in his body language.

“Erm…” She looked over at the large table; this is going to be difficult.  
“Whoa!” Genesis pushed the two of them to the ground, pulling Hermione close so that he hit the floor before she did as he dodged several stunning spells that were aimed at him but would have hit her as well.   
They got back to their feet… or at least Hermione got back onto hers, Genesis fell to his knees with a groan.  
Turning Hermione checked him over to see if he had been hit, she saw a slight tear in his fleece but other than that, he seemed unharmed.

Once she was certain he was safe she drew her wand on her friends and stood over him.  
“What the _hell_ was that for?”

“He’s a stranger, Hermione, one that didn’t set off any of the alarm systems surrounding the house.” Remus stated.

Many of the others had back off from both Remus and Hermione; they were at a standoff, one that Hermione was not going to back off from.  
“Yes he’s a stranger, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you how I know him…”

“Crap!!” exclaimed Fred as he pointed out to a box, one of the garden gnomes had somehow got hold of a match and had proceeded to light up a crate of fireworks, with the fireworks still inside. The crate exploded and sent fireworks and debris flying everywhere, including in Hermione’s direction.

Hermione felt herself fall backwards.  
“Genesis!” Hermione looked up to see Genesis with his hand extended, in front of the two of them was a barrier. However, Hermione saw the materia glowing in his arm.

“Barrier materia. Good job I still have my bracer.” He stated as he glared in the direction of the twins.

Not wanting further quarrel, Hermione placed a hand on his arm and looked at him with pleading eyes, “please, don’t be angry with them, they didn’t know it would happen. It wasn’t deliberate.”  
His eyes softened and he smiled down at Hermione.

“‘ermione, who eez zis?” Fleur asked, stepping out to calm the atmosphere, “s’il vous plaît, tell us ze truz.” Her face hid the seriousness of her request, it looked like Hermione had no choice.

Looking at Genesis she took a deep breath and pulled out the memory of when she had first seen Genesis, this would be a first for him too. “Where to start? I guess every story has to have a beginning so I’ll start there…” Genesis’s chuckle could be heard behind her as she recollected what she had seen, using the images to help get everyone to understand.

Other than the occasional comment from the table or Genesis, Hermione was able to tell all gathered about the man behind her without interruption.  
“It’s hard to believe… and yet here he is stood in our garden…” breathed Molly as, one by one, the wands lowered, Tonks and Remus were the only ones that didn’t lower theirs.

“Just to appease our concerns, Mr Rhapsodos, would you object to a dark magic search?” Tonks, ever the Aura, asked calmly.

Hermione turned back to Genesis who flashed an equally calm smile. “Of course, I have nothing to hide, whatever you find on me that isn’t dark magic I will gladly explain.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other nodded in satisfaction as she watched over the two.  
“Materia should not be able to work in this world.” Brother stated, walking up to his sister’s side.

“What did you expect me to let them to get hurt? Besides, Genesis wanted to protect her. Don’t worry, though. I’ll tell them the dos and don’ts when they’re alone.”

“I don’t think they will be alone, not after this visit.” The group was now eating, all of them, Tonks and Remus included, had now relaxed around Genesis, it was almost as though the images that Hermione had created in the air had been created in the minds of her audience…

Other frowned, suddenly realising what Brother had said.

“What do you mean? What visit?” there was a pop and the two divine beings looked as the now calm group once again became tense.  
Only Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up this time, Hermione’s hand was on Genesis’s shoulder.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hermione’s heart stopped when Arthur’s Patronus disappeared followed, seconds later, by Arthur and the Minister for Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour marching across the grass towards the party.

Leaning down she whispered into Genesis’s ear, “this man runs the Wizarding World, do not speak to him unless you are spoken to, read this, I made it for you a second ago. Just in case something like this happened.” She handed Genesis a piece of paper as Scrimgeour approached.

“I would like a word with you,” he stated to Harry, “as well as Mr Weasley and Miss Granger.”

“Why us as well?” Ron sounded as surprised as Hermione felt.

Suddenly Genesis’s hand found hers. “You’re gripping my bad shoulder.” He murmured, instantly Hermione removed her hand and followed Ron and Harry into the house.

“Keep an eye on him you two,” she whispered to the twins as she passed them and entered the house to the living room where Scrimgeour sat on a nearby stool. The trio sat on the sofa.

“I have some questions to ask you all, I think it would be best to do it individually, if you two,” he pointed at Harry and Hermione, “could wait upstairs, I’ll start with Mr Weasley.”

“No,” Hermione nodded in agreement with Harry. “You speak to all three of us or not at all.”  
Scrimgeour gave Harry a look that Hermione didn’t see, her eyes, instead, had found reflected in the glass face of the old grandfather clock Genesis stood next to Hagrid, talking to him, but Hermione could see his eyes flicker every now and then to his own reflection to look at her.

It turned out that their late Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, had left something in his will to all three of them.  
Hermione and Scrimgeour got into a slightly heated discussion over the Ministry before she listened to Scrimgeour questioned each of them in turn before handing them their items. Ron’s was Dumbledore’s Deluminator; Hermione’s was a book of Wizarding children’s stories; The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Harry’s was the Golden Snitch that he had caught in their first year of Hogwarts.

When Scrimgeour began questioning Harry about the Snitch Hermione began to lose her patience with him and made her anger known to the Minister.  
“The fact that his birthday cake is in the shape of a Golden Snitch has nothing to do with Harry being an excellent Seeker, there must be a message hidden in the icing!” her eyes took note of Genesis chuckling about something and waving his hand at Hagrid to indicate it was nothing, could he hear them?

Scrimgeour and Hermione glared at one another before continuing. “There is no message hidden in the icing, but a Snitch is a very good hiding place for a small object.”

When Scrimgeour handed the Snitch over to Harry, nothing happened. “That was dramatic.” Harry stated, Hermione and Ron laughed.

“That’s all then, is it?” she asked, about to prise herself from the sofa that she was jammed into with Harry and Ron.

Scrimgeour looked bad-tempered now. “No, Miss Granger, not quite. Dumbledore left a second bequest to Mr Potter.”

This turned out to be the sword of Godric Gryffindor. “So where is it?” he asked.

This again caused more argument between the trio and Scrimgeour. “According to reliable historical sources, the sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor. That does not make it the exclusive property of Harry Potter. Now why do you think -?”

“Dumbledore wanted to give me the sword? Dunno. Maybe he thought it would look nice on my wall.”

“This is not a joke, Potter!” Growled Scrimgeour. Hermione felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, her hand unconsciously wrapped around the Phoenix materia, she did not see Genesis, who was having quite an intellectual conversation with Charlie about dragons, stiffen no sooner had her hand come into contact with it.

“Was it because Dumbledore believed that only the sword of Godric Gryffindor could defeat the Heir of Slytherin? Did he wish to give you that sword, Potter, because he believed, as do many, that you are the one destined to destroy He Who Must Not Be Named?”

Hermione felt sick with anger, Ron shifted nervously on his side of the sofa and Harry hummed sarcastically in thought. “Interesting theory. Has anyone ever tried sticking a sword into Voldemort? Maybe the Ministry should put some people on to that, instead of wasting their time stripping down Deluminators, or covering up breakouts from Azkaban. So, is this what you’ve been doing, Minister, shut up in your office, trying to break open a Snitch?   
People are dying, Hermione, Ron and I were nearly three of them, Mad-Eye Moody was one of them, Voldemort chased me over three counties but there has been no word about any of that from the Ministry, has there?” Harry let out a dark laugh, “and you expect us to trust you!”

“You go too far!” Shouted Scrimgeour, he and Harry jumped to their feet, Scrimgeour’s wand it touched Harry’s chest and singed a hole into Harry’s t-shirt like a cigarette.

“Oi!” Ron and Hermione were on their feet, their own wands pointing at Scrimgeour, Harry called them off, but Hermione’s anger was now getting the better of her, things had started to float behind the Minister, only Harry and Ron could see it, but she could no longer hear the conversations outside.

“It’s time you three learned some respect!” snapped Scrimgeour.

“No, Minister, it’s time you earned it!” Hermione snapped, startling the three men, her wand flared and so did the materia around her neck.

“Calm yourself, Hermione.” The inhabitants of the room turned to see Genesis stood leaning against the doorframe. His eyes flashing dangerously at Scrimgeour as he pushed himself off the doorframe to stand next to Hermione, his hand on the other shoulder as Harry had his hand on one as well, Ron was stood directly behind Hermione, she could feel him holding onto her t-shirt.

“Miss Granger…”

“I think it’s high time you left, you have succeeded in upsetting these three and it happens to be Harry’s birthday. You have out-stayed your welcome, Minister.” Genesis’s voice sent a noticeable shiver through the spines of the three wizards and the witch; he had taken many lessons from Sephiroth, one of which was how to intimidate people with only your voice.

“Very well,” Scrimgeour recovered fast, and held out an envelope to Hermione, only to have it snatched out of his hand by Ron. So, they are protective of her, thought Genesis as Scrimgeour just walked out of the room.

“He’s gone,” came Molly’s voice. Ron handed Hermione the envelope, and followed Harry and his mother outside.

Without saying anything, Hermione gave Genesis’s hand a squeeze and led him back outside as she opened the envelope.  
She read the letter as she approached the table coming to a stop just as she reached the head of the table. “No…” she breathed, clutching the parchment tighter a few tears slipped from her eyes and something went bang.

“Hermione?” Harry and Ron were beside her seconds before she began to sob openly. 

“Whoa! Bloody hell what’s the matter?” she fell into Harry and Ron’s arms and sobbed harder, not saying a word.  
The letter had fallen from her hand and Genesis, who had fallen with Hermione, picked it up to read it aloud.

“Miss Hermione Granger, we hope this letter finds you well.” Genesis frowned, “as you made a personal visit to the Ministry of Magic on the eve of the 26th of July to ask us about a protection detail for your Muggle parents April and Keith Granger we have written to you personally.  
Upon your explanation for extra protection after your memory alterations you asked for ‘the next best Auras you have as the best will no doubt be too busy to protect common Muggles’, the Ministry obliged to protect the now renamed Wendell and Monica Wilkins with the use of the next best Auras available.  
It is with the greatest sadness, however, that we inform you of the deaths of Wendell and Monica Wilkins, previously known as April and Keith Granger. Our sincerest condolences on the loss of your family, Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister for Magic… oh Gaia!” Genesis sucked in a deep breath when his stomach dropped in sadness as he read the letter.

“Oh Hermione, I’m sorry.” Ron said as the two boys pulled the crying witch closer to them.

“Arthur, the Fire Whisky. It’ll help…” Molly breathed.

A cold wind blew through the garden causing Hermione to shiver, she jumped when something was placed over her shoulders, it was Genesis’s coat. “Come on, up we get.” He held out his hand to her and pulled her to her feet, before they ate a quick meal and the guests disappeared one by one, but everyone present knew Hermione only answered questions that were asked to her automatically.


	5. The Commander Attends the Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cute little chapter with a piece of writing within that I am very proud of.

By the time everyone had gone to bed, Hermione was feeling a little better. She had managed to convince the boys to let Genesis join them in their planning, as it would appear that, when he returns to his own world, he would appear wherever Hermione was and didn’t want to be kept out of the loops.

The next morning found Hermione waking up downstairs on the sofa with Genesis fast asleep beside her on a makeshift bed. He still has to let me tend to that injury, she thought.  
 _Hermione Granger, Genesis Rhapsodos, come outside._ At the sound of his name being called, Genesis stirred with a groan. 

Picking up her old Hogwarts robe, (she had put it on last night having become cold) Hermione got up and moved out of the house, Genesis in tow.  
When they got outside, Hermione smiled. “Hello Other.” She greeted.

There was another stood beside her, Genesis greeted this one. “Hello Brother.”

“Good morning to you both.” Brother greeted, “now we are going to get the nasty stuff out of the way.” With this, Brother turned his head towards Hermione. “Our sincerest condolences, Hermione Granger.” Hermione bowed her head in acknowledgement, before turning to Other.

“So, what brings the two of you here, and at this hour?”

“Well, the first thing we are here to do is to convey our deepest condolences,” Brother spoke. Now that Hermione had a good look at him, she noticed that he and Other were literally identical in every way…

“Yes, we are identical in every way; this is how we have survived the Commander’s fireballs.” Other replied, Genesis flipped his hair over his shoulder, an arrogant gesture that Hermione noticed he had.

“You see, we can pose as one another, in looks and in voice. Anyway we are getting off track, here, Commander.” Other handed Genesis a pile of clothes.  
“You cannot attend a wedding in what you have on,” Brother looked over his shoulder and frowned.

“Sister, I think we had best hurry this along, before someone notices us.”

“Yes, yes of course I’m getting there!” Other huffed waving her hand at her brother. “Now to the real reason we are here. We do not have enough time to tell you the full story, just the important details, one of which is your materia, Commander.” Other pointed a Genesis’s right wrist.  
“You will be able to use your materia, but only in battle. The exception, of course, is your cure materia. Summons can only be used in dire circumstances, unless you are willing to be out for the count for twenty minutes, in which case you may just as well run yourself through now.”

“You will also face restrictions on Gaia, Hermione Granger. Your restriction will also be the use of your wand. You will only be able to do with your wand what Commander Rhapsodos can do with his materia here.   
In addition, whilst you travel, Hermione Granger, your friends will be able to come with you to Gaia, but they can only go three times.  
Any more than that and they will cause the rift that allows this travel to collapse on itself, trapping you both in whichever world you may be in at the time, the same thing applies for Sephiroth and Angeal.”

“Hermione?” Ginny’s voice could be heard from the kitchen, she was looking for them.

“It is time we left, Sister. Come. Take care, you two. We will meet again, someday.” And at that, Other and Brother disappeared.

“O-okay, that was strange.” Hermione stated as Genesis offered his arm and they walked back into the house where Ginny was waiting for them.

“Oh thank Merlin; I thought you had disappeared again.” Ginny greeted pouring two more cups of tea for the witch and the commander.

“No, not this time. Thanks Ginny.” Genesis replied as Hermione had disappeared upstairs, only to return with a bag.

“What’s in the bag?” Ginny asked.

“Medical supplies, Genesis, sit down.” Hermione looked up to see him frowning. “I’m going to heal your shoulder injury. Other reminded me about it when she mentioned your cure materia.”

Genesis, who had done as he was told and sat down, shifted nervously. “The medics on my world couldn’t do anything for it, they would patch it up and the wound would reopen not long afterwards, they’ve used everything from stitches to materia.”

Standing up, supplies in hand, Hermione smiled. “Oh don’t be such a baby.”

Smirking back at her, Genesis suddenly stood up and removed the top half of his clothes, causing both girls to blink in surprise. Hermione recovered quickly, Ginny was just a second behind her.  
“Well if you are insisting on tending to it, you won’t be able to get at the injury if I have my t-shirt on, will you?”

Oh, he was _flirting_ with her! Hermione smirked and gently shoved him back down onto the sofa. Ginny took the supplies from Hermione, knowing which ones Hermione was going to try first.  
Hermione examined the injury closer; the wound had been made by a blade. “Sparring accident?”

“Yes, Sephiroth, Angeal and I were in the company training room, we sneak in there for fun, when the seconds were out. It was just a usual playful spar, until my jealousy got the better of me, that how this happened.”  
Hermione sat on his left with Ginny sat on the arm of the sofa, the two girls listened to Genesis recall the fight, how it gotten out of hand, all while Hermione padded the injury with a cloth soaked in dittany.

Other than the occasional flinch and hiss, Genesis acted as though he were just having idle conversation. The dittany cleaned the wound and Hermione pulled on what healing magic she was capable of, the wound sealed and Hermione smiled in satisfaction.  
“There, all done.”

Genesis rolled his shoulder and looked down in surprise. “Well colour me purple and call me a Dumb Apple, it’s healed!” The two girls giggled at his exclamation as Genesis put his shirt back on; footsteps could be heard upstairs.

“Morning mum!” Ginny called handing her another cup of tea as Molly came down the stairs.

“Can I talk to you, in private?” Genesis leant down to whisper in Hermione’s ear; it sent a surprisingly enjoyable shiver down her spine.

“Meet me out in the garden in five minutes, we’ve got to eat first and I can hear your stomach growling from here.” Genesis gave her a light shove, a smirk planted on his face.

Once Genesis had finished his breakfast, he was drafted into helping out with the tent, whilst Hermione was drafted with cleaning duties, with those done; she slipped out to find Genesis laughing with Fred and George about something.

“Having fun, Genesis?” she greeted as she approached.

“Yes, I am, these two are just telling me about their new invention that they’re planning on selling in their shop soon, I’ve already put my name down for the first batch!” Hermione didn’t want to know.  
“Anyway, come on I want to talk to you. Can you two cover for me? I won’t be long.”

“Sure thing!” the twins agreed giving the two a sly look, Hermione paled, knowing all too well what that look meant.

Once the two were stood by the shed, Genesis pulled Hermione into a hug. “Are you okay? You seem a little pale.” It was true, Hermione had slept very restlessly last night, but she didn’t want to worry anyone so she smiled and said she was fine.  
Giving her a sceptical look, Genesis nodded letting it drop. “I wanted to talk to you about something else as well.”

“What?”

Genesis seemed to struggle with finding the right words, “…I’ve never been to a wedding before… I don’t know how to act.” Hermione knew that that wasn’t the reason for him calling her out here, but she let it go for now.

“Well I can’t say I’ve been to many. But usually all you can do is be yourself and have fun.”

“But that’s the thing… I-I’m a member of ShinRa’s elite fighting force, I’m SOLDIER. And a 1st Class Commander at that! I don’t know how to have fun except when I’m on the battlefield,” he caught Hermione’s look and smiled.   
“Yes I have a very sadistic side, I love to torment people on the battlefield, the stronger the opponent, the better the fun. Haha oh don’t look at me like that!”  
Hermione was not impressed.

“Well you seemed to be okay yesterday at Harry’s party. So why not just do that?”

“But it was idle conversation, not to mention I was paying more attention to what was going on with you and that Minister guy than I was the conversation.”

“Oh so you could hear us.” Hermione accused coyly. Genesis laughed and raised his hands.

“Guilty as charged! Come on! Let’s go back and get ready, the guests will be here soon. Oh! Here I have a present for you.”

Genesis pulled out a bag full of materia balls. “I have another stock at home, so I want you to have these.” Hermione was about to say something but Genesis cut her off, “it’ll give me some peace of mind.”

She thanked him for them and accepted his offered arm as the two of them walked back to the Burrow.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other and Brother were standing beside the wedding tent, dressed in their finest in the event that someone did see them.  
“You seem rather fond of the girl, sister. For what reason?”

Sister hummed, she still had to tell her own brother the truth behind her pulling this witch from her home. “What do you know of Hermione Granger’s life, Brother?”

“Only what I have seen. Why, is there something about her life that makes her special?”

“How does the fact that she is the youngest of three siblings sound? Or the fact that she is the most powerful witch of her age let alone the brightest?”  
Other’s eyes never left the scene of the youngest Weasley son and the Potter boy as they talked and giggled away to the Weasley twins.

“Youngest of three? But I -”

“- thought she was an only child? No, she is now the sole survivor of her family, however. her oldest brother and only other sibling was one of the second best Auras that had failed to protect her parents. But those are just trivial reasons for my interest in the girl.”

“Then what are you true reasons?” Brother was concerned, his sister never hid things from him.

Other smiled, “patience Brother. All will be revealed soon enough.” Brother pouted, but accepted that as the only answer he was going to get out of her.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hermione was up in Ginny’s room getting into her wedding clothes, Ginny had come in moments ago with a different dress for her saying that Genesis had found it amongst his own wedding clothes. It was the colour violet, and consisted of a bodice that showed off a small amount of cleavage to make her look good whilst still allowing Hermione to feel comfortable.   
It had wide straps, and the skirt was, again, knee length and belled out, with it came a black shawl and black shoes. Once she was dressed in it Ginny came in, already dressed, and invited Hermione to sit down whilst the younger witch did her hair.

“Wow! You look great!” Ron exclaimed as Hermione came out to greet everyone. She had not seen Genesis on the way out so she assumed he was already outside.

“Always the tone of surprise.” She sighed as she turned to look behind her, feeling watched. “Your Aunt Muriel doesn’t agree. I just met her on the way down, “oh is this the Muggle-Born? Bad posture and skinny ankles.”

“Don’t take it personally; you should have heard what she was saying about Genesis. It wasn’t until Fred and George came up to him that he actually realised that she’s a bit barmy. I honestly thought he was going to retaliate… mind you she was a little harsh.” Ron stated, Hermione’s eyes widened.

“What did she say?!”

“Oh what was it…?”

“His eyes are too bright, must be taking some form of Muggle drug to get them like that,” Fred stated, his voice taking on a high-pitched croak that had Harry and Hermione giggling.   
“He’s too tall and too arrogant, most likely one of those pompous Americans coming over here to ruin a perfectly English wedding.” His eyes darkened, “suffice to say, George and I had to step in otherwise Genesis would have chargrilled her. You’ve got an easily offended friend there, Hermione.”

Hermione laughed and waved her hand in front of her face, “oh that’s nothing. You should see him in his own world with Sephiroth and Angeal. It is a pity they couldn’t come too, would have been better for Genesis to have some comfort as well. Speaking of whom, have you seen him?”

“Yeah, he’s over there, third row in, next to you.” Ron led her over to where Genesis was sat, looking at home talking with George, he had a large bag in his hand, full of Weasley Wizard Wheezes produce no doubt.

“Whit-woo look at you!” George greeted as Genesis turned to face her.

“Haha, thanks George, oh thank you Gen.” Genesis stood up to let her pass to her seat, Harry and Ron came around from the other end of the row and sat down. “What’s in the bag, Genesis?”

“My order of products,” Hermione rolled her eyes, honestly Fred and George were bad influences. “Hey, look at these.” Genesis proceeded to show the three what he had ordered and Hermione found herself noticing the depth in those ice-blue eyes of his, the way they laughed like a child at Christmas.

“Oh, heads up here comes the procession.” Fred stated, the twins turning round to face the front, Genesis and the trio also silenced and stood to welcome the bride and groom.

“Wow! She looks amazing!” Hermione nodded in agreement with Genesis.  
Fleur was dressed in a plain white dress that flared out with black feathered laces on the hem travelling halfway up the bell of the dress. She looked stunning.  
Hermione looked at the two as they passed and felt a tear fall from her right eye, she dabbed it away and sat back down with a sniffle.

The procession went without a hitch and Hermione kept glancing at Genesis every now and then, noticing that the smile on his face never once faltered, it was a genuine smile; she found herself loving it.

The vows were spoken and the kiss was shared, the ovation was loud and happy, Hermione, Harry and Ron clapped and (in the case of the boys) hooted and the dance floor was made in the same tent, with Bill and Fleur taking the customary first dance.  
Hermione watched Genesis approach Bill and Fleur, he shook Bill’s hand and pecked Fleur on the cheek, her view of Genesis laughing along with the newlyweds was blocked by a tall figure, looking up Hermione nearly fell off the chair she was sitting on.

“V-Viktor?! Oh my gosh I didn’t see you arrive! How are you?” There was something in the pit of her stomach that told her that, even though he was here on Fleur’s invitation, he was also here to find potential girlfriends, she had been one once…

“I thought perhaps you vould like a dance, Hermione.” Oh _finally_ he had learnt to say her name properly! He held out his hand and swept her onto the dance floor, she did not see the Crimson Commander and Ron Weasley looking as though they were going to kill Viktor for so much as talking to her.

*************************************************************************

It wasn’t as though Ron was not jealous of the attention Genesis was getting from Hermione, but he knew that Genesis knew of Ron’s feelings as he had approached Ron this morning and stated that if he was stepping on any toes that Ron was to say and Genesis would back off.   
Though Ron doubted he would stay away for long.

“What’s on your mind?” speak of the devil. Genesis had just finished dancing with Fleur (he had cheekily asked the two if that was okay, Bill happily obliged).

“That there is Viktor Krum, he’s an international Quidditch star, Harry and I told you about him earlier,” Genesis hummed in recollection, “I can’t stop him from talking to her, but he hurt her once and she didn’t realise it until Ginny pointed it out to her. For all her good qualities and power, Hermione Granger is still a newbie when it comes to the wiles of men.”

Genesis looked down at the young wizard, “you really love her, don’t you?” the question was simple, but Ron could only nod in reply.

He had been told that morning that he didn’t have to ask the men if he could dance with their women, but he also didn’t want to upset anyone by not asking, so when Genesis, sensing Ron’s discomfort, turned to walk away to whisk Ginny away for a dance he was surprised by Ron turning to grab onto Genesis’s bicep.  
“I know you do too,” his blue eyes held Genesis’s Mako filled eyes with a serious stare. “That is why I am going to ask for a deal to be made between the two of us. A deal between friends over a common cause.”

Curious Genesis led the way to a table where he sat down opposite Ron, neither of them were aware of Harry who, on Hermione’s request, had sat himself close by to hear what was being said. “Okay name the terms.”  
Genesis was a fair man, he knew that Hermione and Ron were sweet on one another, but he also knew that Ron was aware of how sweet Hermione and Genesis were. Moreover, after hearing about the Quidditch player still dancing with his Golden Flower, Genesis was willing to hear Ron out.

“You are not going to be here for a particular length of time, so I will look after her in your stead, here in this dimension…”

Genesis understood immediately, “and I will look after her in your stead in my dimension.” Ron nodded, “So what about when we are both in the same dimension?”

Ron cocked his head in thought, so Genesis spoke instead. “How about we let Hermione choose, when we are both in the same dimension, we both take care of her? Does that sound fair?”

Ron’s eyes lit up, “yeah, yeah it does!” Genesis beamed, he liked this boy, and Genesis found himself thinking that he and Harry between them would make very good SOLDIERs.

Ron held out his hand, “so do we have a deal Commander?”

“We do indeed, Mr Weasley.” Genesis and Ron shook hands and laughed before Genesis shoved him in Hermione’s direction. “Now go and ask her for a dance! I’ll barbeque the Bulgarian.”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hearing laughter from behind her, she felt Viktor’s grip tighten on her hand, she winced as that grip tightened again when Ron cleared his throat and tapped Hermione on the shoulder.  
“May I cut in, Viktor?”

It was obvious in his eyes that Viktor did not want to let go of his little powerhouse. Hermione shivered at the memory of him seeing her at the Yule Ball in the condition she was in, she had thought that his possessiveness was over the fact the Ron had upset her, but it was actually his lust for her power that made him possessive.

“Of course, it is good to be able to dance vith you again, Hermione.” He kissed her hand and handed her to Ron.

“What were you and Genesis talking about?” she asked as Ron spun her out into the crowd.

“We were talking like gentlemen about who gets to look after you in which world.” Hermione frowned, no lies?

“Why would I lie to you? Genesis doesn’t, so why would I? Besides, he and I had basically the same idea, we both care about you and we both want to make sure you’re safe.”  
Hermione turned scarlet at Ron’s words, “and the best bit is that neither of us are going to force you to choose.” Ron had leant down to whisper those words; they had stunned her into a momentary silence.

“R-Ron…”

“Listen if I had to let you go to anyone, I would _only_ let you go to him, remember that.” Hermione smiled and then laughed aloud as Ron steered them out to the middle of the floor.

*************************************************************************

After watching the youngest Weasley son and his Golden Flower dance for a moment or two, his eyes strayed to Krum. The man was eyeing Ginny and Fleur’s little sister, Gabrielle; oh it made him sick to see a man looking at women as though they were nothing more than pieces of meat.

Genesis felt a tug on his arm, looking down he saw a young girl who he had initially thought was the younger sister of one of the Turks, but he quickly forgot about that when she spoke to him.  
“You must be Genesis, Ginny was telling me about how you and Hermione met,” Genesis looked over at the witch in question, seeing her mouth the word ‘sorry’, Genesis smiled and nodded his head. “Oh don’t worry; your secret is safe with me. My daddy doesn’t know, and he won’t.”

Genesis’s smile got bigger; there was something about this girl that Genesis liked. “May I have this dance?” the young woman nodded and allowed Genesis to sweep her onto the dance floor, he saw Hermione and Ron laughing at something, and gave them a big grin. “You have me at a slight disadvantage, though, miss.” Genesis returned his attentions to the young woman in front of him.

“Oh, my name is Luna, Luna Lovegood. My daddy is over there talking to Viktor Krum.” Genesis turned to see the two were indeed talking, though it seemed like it was getting heated.

“Are you enjoying the wedding, Genesis?” Luna asked.

“Yes, I am, it’s nice to see people on the brink of war being happy and celebrating something as simple as a wedding. However, I am usually doing the fighting rather than the celebrating.” Luna giggled.

Genesis smiled and spun Luna out into the crowd, Luna turned her head to see her father and Krum walking out of the party, a frown coming onto her delicate and somewhat dreamy features.  
“Would you mind if I cut this dance short? I would like to make sure my dad’s alright.”

“I will come with you then, Ron is still dancing with Hermione, and I was promised the next dance.” Genesis was using the excuse to go out to deal with Krum.   
When he and Luna rounded the corner to where the two men were, he was shocked to see both men had their wands out. Brother was also there.

 _Stop this, Genesis. Otherwise Luna will get hurt_  
The words were barely out of Brother’s mouth when Luna ran out in front of her father as Krum shot out a spell.

Genesis blocked it with Barrier and stood in front of the Lovegoods. “Luna, take your father back inside.” He turned his gaze to Krum and raised his voice. “I have my own bone to pick with you.”

Krum’s eyes narrowed, “you are the von that Hermione vas talking to me about. Vy are you here if you are not a friend of the newlyveds?”

“I am a friend of the newlyweds, as I am also a friend of Hermione’s. I was told something very interesting about you. Apparently you became obsessed with Hermione’s power, so obsessed that you tried to force yourself on her.”   
Krum’s eyes widened. Genesis smirked, he knew that Remus and Mr Lovegood were standing, watching. As were Harry and Ginny.

“Who told you that?” he demanded raising his wand again.

 _Oh, bad move, Krum._ Brother stated making Genesis’s smirk grow darker.

“Hermione’s friends told me. She doesn’t like talking about it and frankly I cannot say as I blame her. Tonight, in fact, I saw her visibly shiver at the thought of what you tried to do to her. I have also seen you, throughout the course of the night, eyeing up all of the women tonight, the bride and her sister included.” Genesis pushed some power into the fully mastered fire materia and flared it around his hand.

Krum’s eyes fell to his now glowing hand, it was then that he realised Genesis had no wand.  
“You will find that I am protective over women as they are not supposed to get messed up in the affairs of men, however, I do not deny them the right to fight should they wish.  
But this is a wedding. Everyone is enjoying themselves, the ladies and the girls should not have to worry about an international Quidditch star wanting to take them to his bed and steal away that they do not wish to give.  
Not only that, you will find that I am possessively protective over Hermione Granger and will not allow any man to touch her against her will.  
So _mister Krum_ …” Genesis brought his hand level with his face, his eyes glowing as bright as the materia in his arm, that smirk now as dangerous as everyone on his world knew.

“How fast can you run?”

Krum’s face paled in the glow of Genesis’s fire materia, a small group of men (Bill included) had turned up to see this. Harry was holding a video camera up and was taping it.   
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,” Genesis began counting backwards slowly, stalking the man as he did so.   
Genesis had hit five and Krum turned and ran, laughing Genesis gave chase and was in front of the wizard before he had even reached the gate. “4, 3, 2, 1…”   
Genesis called forth a fireball and launched it at Krum’s face, deliberately missing him. He could see everyone smirking; Brother was doubled over with laughter.

“Touch another woman against their will and I will find you and burn you alive.” Genesis pulled his hand back and heard the gasps of fear and awe as the fireball came back, turning to face the balls of death, Krum screamed, instinctively ducked and disappeared. 

The fire subsided with just a flick of Genesis’s hand; he bowed to his cheering audience and was clapped on the shoulder by several of them as he made his way to Harry.  
“Keep that, Harry, I want to show Sephiroth and Angeal when I get home.”

Seeing Hermione and Ron still dancing, Genesis checked up on Luna and her father, who shook his hand vigorously and thanked him for his help.  
“Not at all, Mr Lovegood…”

“Oh call me Xenophilius.” He was going to go on about something, when Luna interrupted.

“Come Daddy, I think Genesis wants to dance with Hermione, so let’s let him have his dance.”

The Commander laughed. “You are a Goddess in disguise Luna! Have a wonderful evening!” Genesis bowed to the two and went over to where Hermione and Ron were still dancing.

“Do you have energy for one more dance, Hermione? Or would you like a rest?”

Ron and Hermione beamed up at him, Hermione nodded. “Oh I think I can manage one more dance, if you don’t mind, that is?” she turned to Ron who shook his head and handed her to Genesis.

“Oh, I think Harry has something he wants to show you, Ron. I think you’ll enjoy it.” Genesis sent Ron a knowing look and turned to his Golden Flower.  
Now he could look at her properly he saw that the dress she was wearing fitted her as well as the periwinkle blue had. 

It complimented her figure, flowed out well as he had watched one of her many male dancers spin her out, Ron and Harry included. She was indeed a vision of the Goddess that he had recently become obsessed with. 

He wanted to savour this moment and never forget it; the groom had given him a souvenir package that, he had been told, would fill up over the course of the evening, he silently hoped that his Golden Flower would be in the pictures so that he could show his friends once he returned.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Hermione frowned and allowed her eyes to follow Ron as she and Genesis waited for the next song to come on.  
She didn’t see what Genesis could and that was Fleur asking for a slow dance, she looked briefly in the direction of Genesis and Hermione, whose frown deepened as she saw Ron double over in laughter as he watched something on a video camera that she had brought with her.  
She was about to walk over to ask what was so funny, but the song started so she became caught up in Genesis’s arms.  
“And where do we think we’re going?” he asked, teasing her into a slow waltz.

“I was just wondering what Ron was laughing at… whatever it is it seems to have tickled him.” Hermione spoke softly, she was trying so hard not to melt into the arms of her Crimson Angel, her eyes decided to take in the clothing he was wearing, to keep her mind focused on the dance.

He was wearing the same outfit that was in the ShinRa Times, his SOLDIER battle outfit. She wondered how many women he had danced with in this uniform in his own dimension, she knew from the way the Veela were acting that he hadn’t danced with any of them… well except Fleur, but she was the Bride so he _could_ dance with her.   
His black, knitted, turtleneck sleeveless jumper and his ShinRa symbolised abdomen guard were flat against, what she knew, a well-toned chiselled abdomen.  
His black soft leather cargo pants belled out on the thighs and disappeared into shin-length black boots, the abdomen guard held two leather straps in place, these, Hermione knew, kept the battle gear firmly in place.  
His long duster coat was his pride and joy, apparently, it was blood red in colour, and fell to the bottom of his calf muscles, the black shoulder guards were for show but offered some form of protection, he also wore a pair of crimson gloves that felt nice under her hands.

“Um… Genesis…?”

“Hmm?” She finally looked into his eyes, her own shining with a curiosity.

She suddenly became lost in those eyes, “So pretty….” She breathed, Genesis laughed and spun her out into the crowd pulling her back into his arms where she came crashing back down to earth.

“Have you come out of your little cloud now?” he teased as he continued to waltz with her around the dance floor.

“Y-yeah I’m sorry. Haha, what I was going to ask was, how do your eyes get so bright? I mean what makes them glow?” She watched him look into her own eyes fondly.

“I can’t tell you, I’m sorry. It would take too long to explain. I will one day, though, I promise. Come on; let’s just enjoy this dance, eh?” Hermione knew she had stepped into forbidden territory so she leaned in close and the two just swayed to the music.

“What was that noise?” he stopped and looked outside the tent.  
Hermione’s head began pounding. She doubled over in pain, catching Genesis’s attention.   
“Hermione?” those around them looked at them.

She gasped for breath as the pain stopped suddenly, and she went cold. “Oh no…!”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brother raced to his sister’s side, she had been watching over a couple of children as they slept, “come sister, this is about to get dangerous, we have got to send Genesis back,” he took hold of his sister’s hand and raced over to the pair, Genesis was still looking over Hermione, worry etching in his face.

“I am sorry, Genesis.” He muttered as they passed.  
Suddenly Hermione and Genesis had to shield their eyes as a silver light entered the party tent. Other pulled Brother to a stop to hear what was being said. “Sister, why have you not sent Genesis back yet? Sister!” But Other was more focused on the silver light now revealed to be the shape of a Lynx.

It opened its mouth and the voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt spoke, loud and clear. “The Ministry of Magic has fallen, Rufus Scrimgeour is dead. They are coming.”

“Send him back sister. NOW!” Brother urged.

Other seemed to hesitate, “But…”

“She’ll be fine, just send him back before he gets hurt again!”

“Forgive me, you two.” She muttered as she reopened the portal.

*************************************************************************

Genesis stood beside Hermione staring at the Lynx as it disappeared, the last three words it spoke echoing throughout the tent.  
Someone screamed and Genesis found himself being pulled down as Hermione forced him to the ground.

Battle instinct took over as clouds of black smoke (that he now knew to be Death Eaters using Apparation to move around) surrounded guests and began killing, he looked up to see Hermione run towards Ron, only to be blocked and sent flying backwards.  
“NO!” Genesis ran to Hermione only to find his path blocked with three Death Eaters of his own.  
He growled and felt the Mako in his blood surge. “Get out of my way!” He summoned his beloved Rapier and, catching sight of three others behind him, spun round in a graceful circle, his blade meeting every Death Eater within Rapier’s deadly swing, losing their heads instantly.

He did not wait for the bodies to fall as he ran for Hermione, who was getting to her feet. “Are you alright?!” he asked pulling her the rest of the way up and over to Harry and Ron who were fighting to get to her.  
“Stay behind me, and tell the boys to get to the other end of the tent, I’ll take you to them.” Hermione was about to do as she was told, but a spell was shot out at Genesis…

“AH!” Hermione screamed Genesis spun round and watched as Hermione, once again, fell to her knees, only when he went to catch her, he backed off; she had gone straight through his arm.

“No, no not yet, _NO_!” Genesis looked round at everyone; suddenly Ron’s voice reached him.

“Don’t worry about us, Genesis!” he looked round and found Ron and Harry running to catch Hermione and she got back to her feet, “we’ll see you soon! Here, catch!” Ron threw the souvenir package at him, he caught it and watched as his Golden Flower took the hands of her two best friends, gave him one last look and disapparated.

Genesis, himself, watched as the tent and the battlefield disappear and was replaced by the metal walls of Tseng’s apartment.  
“Genesis!” the Turk in question caught the Crimson Commander as he fell to his knees, tears falling from his eyes.

“Genesis, what happened?” Tseng was shaking him trying to get an answer from the sobbing SOLDIER.

“They were having such a nice time. You would never have guessed there was a war with all of the happiness that was in that atmosphere. But all of that changed and now…” Genesis looked up at Tseng.   
“Goddess, Tseng I wanted to stay to help them! They didn’t deserve that! Not when only minutes before they were all dancing and laughing!” Genesis sobbed openly and Tseng did the only thing he could do; he let Genesis cry.


	6. A Black House

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the need to explain.   
> This story is also on fanfiction.net, but I have decided to move it onto here, this is because I neglect this story so much and I have some very good ideas for the latter parts. Everyone know the story of Harry Potter, and almost as many people know the story of the FFVII Compilation (even if not everyone likes it).  
> This idea stemmed from an old story that I once read on DeviantArt, I can't remember who wrote it or but the idea sparked something in me.  
> Several years later (see what I mean about neglecting this story?) and I'm still writing -typing?- this story and I haven't even got off of the Deathly Hallows book yet lol.
> 
> So yeah, this and my Doctor Who story are two of my longest running fanfictions and the Doctor Who one is a rewrite of something I deleted several years ago -oops!- 
> 
> So I ask that you all be patient and I look forward to reading any reviews you may have.

It had taken Tseng a good hour to calm Genesis down; after the tears had subsided, his anger had started to burn. Thankfully, he had kept the fire materia out of his rant.  
Had it not of been for his skills as a Turk, and Second in Command at that, he would never have understood the reason behind Genesis’s fury, by the end of his rage, however, Tseng had a pretty good idea of what had happened.  
“So, what happens now?” he asked, handing Genesis a cup of tea his rant having ended a few minutes ago.

“Nothing, I have to wait. Either she comes to me or I go to her. But if she comes here, I’m not letting her go back.”

“And if you go back there, you’ll stay? Genesis,” Tseng leant forward, thin, muscular elbows resting on equally thin and muscular knees, “it seems to me that you and Hermione have no say in whether or not you stay or go. If that is the case, then I suggest you just continue as normal. Don’t look at me like that.” Genesis had lowered a glared at the Turk.

“How can I continue living here as normal, when I know that there is a war going on over there?”

“There is a war going on here, too.”

Genesis gave a dark, sarcastic, laugh, “I’ve been fighting in that war for so long that I’d forgotten it _was_ a war.” Genesis looked back over at the Wutai native Turk. “I know I have a duty here, Tseng, but that’s all it is; duty. I _want_ to help Hermione, Harry and Ron with their war.” He needed to get his point across, needed to make Tseng understand.  
“I mean, I’m not the nicest of people at the best of times, but… even Sephiroth would be unable to find a fault with the people I’ve just abandoned.”

Tseng looked at him, his own mug of Wutai tea halfway to his mouth. “They were that nice?” Tseng could see in Genesis’s eyes that he had wanted to come back, but he had also wanted to stay.   
Heaving a sigh, he put down his mug. “Come on, finish your tea and let’s get you home. I’ll let Seph know you’re back. Go and wait by the car.” Tseng was up and out of the room before Genesis had even drained his luke warm cup of rather well-made tea. Heaving a sigh, he got up out of his chair.

“Seph it’s Tseng. Yeah, he’s here. Yeah I’m bringing him back now… hold on a sec. Genesis?” Tseng’s voice suddenly sounded as though Genesis was under water, he couldn’t breathe… feeling the ground under his knees, Genesis just fell into the blissful peace of darkness.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tseng dropped the phone and raced to Genesis’s side, “Genesis! Genesis can you hear me?!” running back to the phone he cut off Sephiroth’s questions. “Get over here, now! And bring Professor Kancheewa, Genesis has collapsed.”

“ _Understood. Unlock the door, we won’t knock._ ” The phone line went dead and Tseng turned back to the fallen SOLDIER, and blinked.

“You again…” he breathed for standing in the middle of his living room, looking at someone with a blank look on her face, was Hermione Granger. “What are you looking at? What are you thinking?”   
After making Genesis comfortable, Tseng reached for the pen and notepad that he had been using to take note on a recent case, and began to write down the body language and the facial expressions that were playing before him.

To the untrained eye, Hermione’s eyes were blank, void of any emotion, but not to Tseng. Oh no, he could see that her eyes were burning with fear, anger and… recollection of pain?   
Humming in thought, Tseng continued to observe until the image disappeared, followed seconds later by Sephiroth entering the apartment with Angeal and Professor Sakura Kancheewa at his heels.

“Who was that, Tseng?” the kind woman asked, Tseng just continued to write before looking her in the eye and telling her that he had Genesis’s confidence not to tell anyone who she was.  
He just hoped Sephiroth and Angeal got the hint as well.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Obliviate.” Hermione muttered, pointing her wand at Dolohov and wiping all trace of her and her friends from his memory.  
“Come on, we’d better go.” Hermione breathed, turning her back away from the scene. She had had a flashback of her parents as she had performed the spell to wipe Dolohov’s memory.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked as the two boys fell into step with her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It was just painful to do that, that’s all.”

“Because of what you did to your mum and dad?” Ron asked, Hermione just nodded.

An uncomfortable silence followed the three as they apparated from the cafe and into a busy London borough where they wandered through the streets.  
Harry suddenly pulled to a stop, causing Hermione and Ron to do the same. “Hermione, your friend is over there by the bus stop.” 

Hermione’s gaze shot over to the place he mentioned and saw that it was indeed Other. *“Come this way, all of you, I will lead you to a safe haven.”* The two boys didn’t know whether this was a trap or not, but as Hermione took off at a fast walk they decided to follow them.

*“I apologise for sending Genesis back when I did, but I had no choice.”*

“It’s fine, Other. Thankfully I heal fast. Besides, the last thing he needs is to wrapped up in more than one war. He has his hands full with the one in _his_ dimension.” Hermione took notice that Other was dressed in clothes that she had seen on a muggle teenager that Other had literally walked through earlier.

“Where are we going, Hermione?” Ron asked as Other pulled to a stop in a park.

*“We are here; I believe you all know this place. I leave you now, you are safe here, goodnight to you all.” *

“Other!” the sentient being turned to face Hermione, “tell Genesis that we’re okay, please?”  
Other simply smiled and gave a low bow as she vanished.

“Okay, I'll ask again, where are we? I didn’t remember this park…” Ron said exasperated. 

Harry frowned. “Grimmauld Place… How did she know to bring us here?” He turned to Hermione as she shrugged.

“No idea. But at least she led us here. Come on.” Every yard or so they were checking for any sign of the enemy, by the time they got to the door of number twelve they were on high alert and the adrenaline was sending out a volt of electricity to anything Hermione touched.  
Harry tapped the door and the locked opened. 

Harry closed the door behind them after letting Hermione through, suddenly Hermione’s mouth went dry. “Something is off.”   
The boys looked at her for a second before several things happening at once; the first was the voice of Mad-Eye calling out to Snape, Harry shouted that they were not Snape, which ended with a Tongue-Tying Curse and the second had Hermione screaming. It was a figure made from the dust on the floor, the figure was of their late Headmaster.  
When Hermione screamed, she threw up her hands and covered her head, that movement, coupled with her uncontrolled emotions saw a wall of ice rising from the floor to the ceiling to shield the three of them from the figure.   
It didn’t stop it, however, as the ghost came through the ice and only dispersed when Harry shouted at it, “we are not your killers!”

Once certain they were alone, Hermione didn’t want to be left alone, she was afraid. So the boys agreed to stay in one room and use the sleeping bags.   
That was when Harry’s scar began to flare up, Harry doubled over in pain and was caught as he fell by his friends.  
He explained that he had seen nothing but knew that You-Know-Who was angry with something and was quick to snap at Hermione that yes he did remember that he was supposed to used Occlumency to keep him out of his head, but that sometimes it wasn’t as easy as that.  
“I know that, Harry, but I can help you, I have some really effective meditation techniques that my dad taught me when I was little. It’ll help you too, I know it.”

Realising he had snapped for no reason, Harry smiled gently at Hermione and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Thank you, I know I can come to you when I need you. I’m sorry for snapping.”

“It’s okay, we’ve all had a stressful night… ah!” Hermione ducked behind Harry as she saw a silver Patronus in the shape of a weasel soar through the drawing room window and land on the floor.

“Family safe, do not reply, we are being watched.” the voice of Mr. Weasley sounded before it and the Patronus vanished. Ron sank onto the sofa a small whimper escaping his throat as Hermione rushed to his side. She put her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close. 

“It’s okay, now, Ron. They’re safe, they’re alive.”

Harry disappeared for a while when Hermione realised he may be heading to bed, so she fished out his toothbrush and when to give it to him.  
She knew what had happened to him, of course. she was a telepathic Wiccan, but she also had a better grip on her mind than her friend, she also had a slightly better pain barrier, but only slightly. Thankfully all the twitches and shivers and looks of pain that flashed across her eyes were interpreted by the boys as fear and nerves.  
Hermione came back down and saw that Ron was starting to make the beds.

“Here, let me help.” She bent down and took one end whilst Ron took the other. 

“I never did ask how your eye was.” Ron said, Hermione blinked, her now free hand reaching up to her right eye and sliding over the scar.   
She had hidden it with magic during the wedding, but now, she had forgotten about it completely. It didn't hurt anymore, but it was still scabbed.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt anymore thank goodness. I had actually forgotten all about it until you mentioned it, thanks for asking anyway.”  
They smiled at each other for a few minutes before hearing Harry coming back downstairs looking ready to drop from exhaustion.

“Bathroom’s free. Here, I'll help.” Harry took over from Ron who picked up his toothbrush and dashed up the stairs.

After Hermione had finished her turn in the bathroom, the three of them settled down and Hermione fell asleep holding Ron’s hand with one of hers and the Phoenix materia in her free hand.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Genesis woke with a gasp as he bolted upright. “Hermione, Harry, Ron!”

“Easy, Genesis, you’re okay.” the soothing voice of the Science Department’s most popular person, Professor Sakura Kancheewa reached his ears.

“Professor, what happened to me?” Genesis lay back down, confused.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was in Tseng’s apartment, he was going to drive me home and so I stood up, the next thing I remember is a burning sensation coursing through my blood, the wound that she had healed, it was the worst, I don’t know if it’s opened again, but I don’t remember anything else.”

“That’s okay-” Genesis stopped listening to her as his eyes wandered to the familiar figure of Brother.

*“Hermione is safe, Genesis. She and her friends were led by Other to a place of sanctuary. Rest well, I shall see you soon.” * Brother vanished as Professor Kancheewa continued to talk, well that was _one_ thing off his mind. 

“Genesis? Can you hear me?” Professor Kancheewa waved a hand in front of his eyes, Genesis blinked.

“Forgive me, Professor, I spaced out for a moment there. What did you say?”

Professor Kancheewa frowned, this was not normal for him, “I said that Hollander has asked me to take a couple of samples of your blood for analysis, then, so long as you can walk, you can be cleared and back to work tomorrow. Is that alright by you?”

Genesis gave his best smile to the woman he kept forgetting was known as a Turk in a lab coat. “Yes, Professor, that’s fine.”

The test done Genesis was back on his feet, there was a look in Hollander’s eyes that set Genesis on edge, was something wrong with him? Maybe…  
“Ah, Genesis, I’m glad to see you back on your feet.” Turning, Genesis smiled seeing the Director of SOLDIER Lazard Deusericus coming towards him. “You gave us quite a scare.”

“Thank you, Director, I apologise for any worry I have caused, did you want me for something?” Genesis was hoping for a mission to take his mind off of everything.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I have a mission for all three of you, to Wutai.” Genesis blinked.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Brother vanished from the corner where he had been stood listening to Lazard. He joined his sister in their pocket dimension for a short rest.  
“Why did none of them ever say anything to the three of them? Things would have been a lot better…”

“Or things would have happened sooner and we would have no reason to interfere, would we?” His sister interrupted, she was only a few hours older than he was, but she acted as though they were years apart.

“What are you looking at, sister?” he moved to sit at his sister’s side. 

“Hermione. Something is wrong with her, she shows more fear than anger, she must find a release soon before she, too, begins to turn on her friends.”

“You never did tell me what you saw in her.”

“In truth I’m still trying to figure that out myself.” Other looked at her brother, who stared back.

“They’re in for a lot of trouble, aren’t they?” Brother was afraid of the answer; he was growing fond of Genesis.

“Yes, I’m afraid they are.” Other stared back through the portal hole that let her watch Hermione and the boys drift off to sleep. “I just hope it doesn’t turn her into something she will never come back from.”


	7. A War Within War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione begins to realised that Genesis may have been telling the truth about being sadistic.

**BOOM!**

Hermione woke with a start; she and Ron bolted upright, took one look at each other and then ran for the door, wands in hand.  
“Harry?” They called, running up the staircase to where their friend was, “Harry?” Hermione called again.

“I’m in here!” he coughed; Ron was first in through the door, Hermione at his heels.

“What the hell happened?” Ron asked as he helped Harry to his feet.  
It turned out that the explosion was a trap of some description, Hermione knelt down to get a closer look at the device, and saw in had a _very_ familiar logo on it.

“Grab hold of me.” She breathed.

The two boys stood over her, brows furrowed in confusion. “What?” Harry asked, Hermione stood up and grabbed the two of them by their coats.

“Hold on!”

“Whoa!” the three exclaimed, Harry and Ron gripped each other’s coats, but Hermione’s grip slipped from the two boys, and she fell with a scream.

The surroundings were blurred; she couldn't get her head to focus on anything specific. The next thing she knew was coming into contact with something solid and the darkness that followed.  
When she woke up, she found herself in a type of bed. Her body ached from the fall. Trying to sit up she groaned in pain, attracting the attention of the company that she didn't know she had.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Hermione looked up from where she was leaning to try and ease her pain to see a young girl, around Hermione's age, kneeling near the foot of the bed, medicine and other medical supplies at her feet.

Hermione looked at the girl in confusion, "Where am I?" She asked, the girl looked as confused as Hermione did.

"I don’t understand." She shook her head and it up to come to Hermione's side.  
Hermione, meanwhile, tried to remember where she had heard that word before, then it hit her. She must be in Japan! Wakarimasen was Japanese for I don't understand.

The girl placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down. "Please lie back down, you have been badly hurt."

Hermione cocked her head in confusion and repeated her earlier word. "Wakarimasen. Erm... Goodness this is hard.... English?"

"Ah! Hai!" The girl suddenly got up and rushed from the tent, leaving Hermione dumbfounded. When the girl returned, she was accompanied by a young man.  
"Eigo."

"Kasumi tells me that you are from Midgar." He had a deep voice and stern eyes and yet Hermione didn't feel threatened by him.

Midgar? Hermione suddenly looked up in shock, she was back in Genesis's world?! Oh then she wasn't in Japan, but Wutai! She needed to be careful now. "Yes, I am here with two others, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. My name is Hermione Granger. Please have you seen them?"

The young man looked at her, he was curious about something around her neck... The Phoenix materia! "Are you with the ShinRa troops?"

Hermione decided to try the negotiation tactic. "No, I am not with the ShinRa troops. I am, however, acquainted with one of them. Please do not take my honesty as a threat, I am not here as bait, I simply wish to return home."

The young man's eyes narrowed, "you are not here to hurt us?"

"No. Ow!" Hermione had attempted to get up, but she found herself in more pain. "Urgh what happened to me? What injuries do I have? And also, what is your name?"

The young man laughed. "So many questions! Clearly you are a scholar of some sort. My name is Sosuke. Kasumi is my little sister. My Imouto. As for your injuries, we managed to heal them with a low levelled cure materia so the only thing you can feel is severe bruising. Now, Granger-San, let us get you back onto your feet. And into some cleaner and more intact clothing."  
Hermione lifted the blanket covering her legs to find her favourite jeans were torn in several places. Looking at her torso, she saw that her top clothing was also torn, looks like she'll have to scrap the lot. "I would like that very much. Also, can you tell me more about this war? I'm afraid I've been kept in the dark on these matters."

Sosuke watched as Kasumi helped Hermione to her feet and stabilised her until she was able to balance on her own. "Of course. But I cannot betray my people and tell you our battle plans. You understand?"

Hermione nodded vigorously and instantly regretted it. "Ow, urgh, yes I understand completely."

Sosuke smiled and extended his arm to her, "good. But first we must get you a new change of clothes."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron had also landed with a crash. But they had landed in a different place altogether.  
"Whoa, what happened?" Harry and Ron got to their feet and looked around, "um, Harry?" Turning Harry saw that Ron was stood facing the receiving end of what could only be a seven-foot-long samurai sword.

"Who are you? How did you come to be here?" His voice was a deep, soft baritone, his hair was the colour of a sickle and his eyes, they were bright almost ice-green with cat-eyes slits for pupils, like Voldemort. "Answer me."

"Harry does he look familiar to you?" Ron's question broke Harry out of his stupor, as the figure stepped further into the moonlight Harry could see what Ron meant.

"You should know that I am not a patient man, answer me!"

_"The one thing about Sephiroth that sets him apart from myself and Angeal is that he has the patients of a saint in all circumstances but one; when he is on the battlefield."_ Genesis's voice went through his head as Harry realised who he was stood in front of.

"My name is Harry Potter; this is my best friend Ron Weasley. We are acquaintances of Commander Genesis Rhapsodos." Harry spoke in a similar way to how Genesis introduced himself to the Delacours, he hoped it would satisfy Sephiroth.

It worked. Sephiroth lowered his blade, his eyes sweeping the duo, looking for the familiar face.  
"Where is Hermione?"

"We don't know. We got separated when we dropped into this world." Ron held out the piece of the explosive device that he had picked up before Hermione had grabbed him. "This yours?"

Taking the scrap, Sephiroth's eyes widened in shock. "We had planted these in the field outside Fort Tamblin just past the river behind you. Where did you come across this?"  
Harry and Ron explained what had happened to Sephiroth who was walking them back to the encampment where all ShinRa troops were stationed. There, Harry and Ron met Angeal. "I see you ditched the useless one." Sephiroth greeted.

Angeal sighed and looked up from the book he was reading. "Yes, he's off with the second that's in B Unit. And he is not _that_ useless, we could do worse than a rookie Turk." His abnormally blue eyes were glowing as they glanced at Harry and Ron. "Who are they?"

"Hermione’s friends. I'll let them introduce themselves, I have to find Genesis." Sephiroth went to walk off when Angeal spoke.

"What for?"

"One of the devices that he planted ended up in their world, they heard the blast and picked up a piece of the remains of the device before coming here, Hermione is missing."

Angeal stood up fast causing Harry and Ron to step back. "You don't think she's in the Fort?"

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder as he turned to walk away. "I do."

Leaving Harry and Ron with Angeal, Sephiroth walked away. Angeal looked at the floor before giving his best smile to the two boys, but they all knew it was forced. "Forgive me, Commander Angeal Hewley, SOLDIER 1st Class and second in command of the ShinRa army under the man you have just met, General Sephiroth Crescent, I am at your service, gentlemen."

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Harry Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you Commander Hewley." Harry held out his hand to shake Angeal's.

Taking his cue from Harry, Ron held out his hand too. "Ronald Weasley, Ron for short. It's nice to meet you, Genesis has told us much about you and Sephiroth."

It was true, in fact, Genesis never stopped talking about them. "Harry Ron, what happened?!" Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Genesis strode out of the tent that Sephiroth had entered and over to the two boys extending his arms for the two to grasp in both relief and greeting.  
“We don’t know, Genesis. One minute I heard something beeping in the room I was sleeping in, next it blows up and then the three of us get thrown around. Ron and I end up here and we don’t know where Hermione is.” Harry explained. He and Ron shared a nervous glance as they watched the colour drain out of Genesis’s face.

He swung round to face Sephiroth, “you don’t think she landed in Fort Tamblin, do you?”

“Unfortunately, I do. I will inform Tseng. He can go in a search for her as he is the most fluent in the language.” With that as his final word, Sephiroth nodded to Harry and Ron before walking off to find the man in question.

“Wait… Sephiroth, WAIT!” Genesis suddenly called, Harry and Ron stood back as Sephiroth came back.

“What is it, Genesis?”

“C unit has yet to return from their scouting mission.”

“Scouting? That was not the order I heard given by the leader of C unit.” Angeal cut in.

Sephiroth and Genesis looked at Angeal. “That was the order I had given them,” Sephiroth replied, his eyes darkening. “The Captain is no fool, Angeal.”

“No, but he _is_ trigger happy. And the infantry doesn’t take kindly to taking orders from SOLDIERs, not even you, Sephiroth.” Angeal argued.

Harry and Ron shared a look at this fact; this meant that Hermione was in trouble. “Oh they are _so_ screwed,” said Ron, he and Harry smirked at the three SOLDIER 1st Class who were looking at them as though they were mad.

\-----------------------------------------------

Hermione looked at her reflection in the small fountain’s waterfall. She was dressed in a leaf green kimono and had her hair placed in a delicate bun.  
She had only been here an hour and was steadily beginning to wonder whether or not Genesis was the kind man she had come to believe him to be. By all accounts this war was all down to the fact that ShinRa wanted to place a Mako reactor here in this lush and beautiful land, whereas the natives were strongly against the company “pillaging and raping” their beloved homeland.   
From the way she had seen the guards acting earlier, she gathered that they were a very passionate people and loved the land of their birth and the birth of their ancestors, and they wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible.  
 _Can’t say as I blame them_ , she thought as she turned away from the waterfall and walked over to Sosuke, who was acting as her bodyguard as well as her translator.

“Thank you, these clothes and this hairstyle are beautiful. You have made me feel very welcome here, considering what I told you.”

“Well, truth be told, you remind me of another young lady, she would be around two years younger than you. She and her mother are very respectful of our cultures and traditions. And speak very loudly against the building of the reactor here. Come, you must be hungry."

Hermione's stomach decided to growl at that time, causing her to blush. "Yes I must be." She chuckled.

The two of them had just walked past the statue of the local deity when a cry came from one of the watchtowers.  
“Soldiers! We're under attack! Take cover!”

Sosuke suddenly took Hermione’s arm and pushed her against the nearest wall. “What is it?!” she asked, her answer came in the form of an explosion to her right. “What was that?!”

“Hermione, please, get into the temple, you will be safe in there. ShinRa dogs! Do they not know a civilian camp when they see one?!” These were the last words Hermione heard Sosuke say before he ran off in one direction and Hermione went in another.

“Wait…” Hermione stopped just short of the door to the temple, why was she running away? She could fight, she had her wand and her Wicca, so why was she running. _It could be Genesis you are fighting._ Hermione’s eyes darkened, “serves him right. I’m not letting innocents get hurt!” Turning on her heel, Hermione raced after Sosuke.  
Reaching the main area of battle, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks at the sight before her; men and women and children lay at her feet either dead or dying. The sounds of explosions and gunfire sounded off around her, she flinched when they got too close. One little boy was screaming in pain, Hermione rushed over to him.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay…”

“Okāsan! Okāsan, Okāsan, Okāsan!” Now _that_ word Hermione knew. It was Japanese for mother.

Seeing that she had no choice in the matter, Hermione found the body of a dying adult and used her magic to learn the language, she was just in time too, as the man died not three seconds after Hermione had finished. Returning to the boy, Hermione then noticed the body of a woman with no arm lying not that far away, she was dead. It was then she saw that the little boy was holding a severed arm… “Oh Goddess, no!” Her stomach churned and she vomited right there.

“Okāsan, Okāsan! Ahh!” the little boy was holding the severed arm of his dead mother, he too would soon die if Hermione didn’t do something.

Hermione ran a gentle hand over the little boy’s face and gave a weak smile, tears were now falling from her face as she spoke the newly acquired language. “Shh, shh, it will be alright. My name is Hermione. I am here to help you.”

The boy stopped calling for his mother, but continued to cry in pain, though his eyes were now solely on Hermione’s face. “I hurt! It hurts!”

_Oh, Goddess give me strength. This is painful!_ Hermione continued to wipe the blood from his gushing head wound, trying to work up the concentration to save this dying little boy. “I know. I know it hurts. But... I'm going to help you. I just need you to stay strong for me.”

The little boy nodded, keeping his eyes on Hermione’s face the entire time. Casting her gaze to the sea of stars, Hermione began her spell. “Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine. Heal what has been hurt, change the fates' design, save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine... What once was mine.” Yes, it was a song from Disney's Tangled, her powers came from songs from Disney as well as the incantations and spells she had learnt as a child. But she preferred to sing the songs than do it the old-fashioned way.  
She felt the power in the wind that blew through her hair, looking down at her hands, Hermione smiled as she watched the child’s wounds close up and heal leaving no trace.

“Ha! It worked!” she laughed as the spell ended and the boy stopped crying… in fact, he had stopped making a sound… “No, no, no, no, no, NO!” In her panic Hermione almost missed the sound of the little boy breathing again. “Oh thank the Goddess I thought I’d lingered too long.”

Seeing the little boy’s eyes open again, she smiled. “Are you an angel?”

“Yes I am an angel.” Lifting the boy into her arms, she saw him drop the arm and hold her tightly.

“Thank you.” he whispered, clinging to her tightly. Hermione walked back towards the temple.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry and Ron walked beside what they had heard Sephiroth call the 1st battalion. Genesis was walking beside them, with Angeal bringing up the rear and Sephiroth at the head of the troop.  
Ron and Genesis were both an edge, they had a common cause to fight for, but both of them were wondering what kind of state she would be in once they got there.

Sephiroth stopped and held up his hand. “Halt!”

“What is it Sephiroth?” Angeal asked.

“I hear gunfire.” It was true, they could all hear it now, the sounds of rifles and other military weaponry could be heard.

“Hermione.” Ron murmured. Harry put a hand on his best friend’s shoulder.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine. Knowing her, she’s probably fighting.” He soothed.

"She would be a fool if she is fighting here. My men are trained to kill anyone they consider a threat." Sephiroth stated, turning to the two boys.

**THOOM!**

Everyone fell to the floor at the sound of the explosion. Harry looked up and saw a dragon made of fire swoop over the tree tops.  
So close was the creature of flames that Harry could feel the heat on the back of his neck, "what in the name of the great goddess is that?!" Exclaimed Genesis, Ron and Harry looked at each other, agreeing in one thing; Hermione was angry.

"Come on." Harry hoisted Ron to his feet and took off in the direction the dragon was returning to, they could hear Genesis shouting for them to come back, Sephiroth called out to Genesis and to Angeal who had obviously followed the two running wizards.

\-----------------------------------------------

Hermione was indeed angry.  
She had just put the injured boy, who had told her his name was Satoshi, into the temple where many of the surviving civilians were sheltering.  
"Please keep him safe for me." She asked one of the women, the woman nodded and Hermione turned and left the sanctity of the temple. As she walked back through the battlefield, she noticed more bodies, deciding to follow the carnage she soon found what she was looking for. “Sosuke!”

The warrior in question spun round to face the approaching witch. “I thought I told you to stay safe in the temple?!”

Hermione swept her hand through a nearby torch, scooping up the fire into her hands, a cold, dark, determination shone in her eyes. “I will not allow any more innocent people to die. Call your people back, I will end this fight for you.”

“How will you do that?”

“Just call your people back.” she ordered.

“Back to the Temple! Fall back to the Temple!” the warriors were about to question their commander, but at the sight of a young Western girl with growing flames surrounding her, they thought better of it.  
Hermione summoned up the flames so that they flew high into the air, her mind's eye picturing a Hungarian Horntail.

Throwing up her arms, she cast the dragon into the air, watching it fly over the trees before returning to Hermione, she stepped out into the line of sight of the ShinRa troops, several of them cocking their weapons.  
The dragon swooped over them all, engulfing them in flames, they wouldn’t burn, no she was no killer. _Sonorus_. she thought, holding her wand up to her throat.  
“THIS ENDS NOW. ALL SHINRA TROOPS WILL LEAVE THIS CIVILIAN CAMPSITE, OR SO HELP ME I WILL BURN YOU ALL!"

Harry, Ron, Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth rounded the corner to hear Hermione’s words.  
“Great Goddess alive, _she_ created that thing?!” exclaimed Genesis.

“Oh yeah, she’s angry alright.” Ron stated.

“How is she doing that?” asked Sephiroth, “she is potentially burning our troops…”

“No, they’re not burning… not yet. They will burn if they don’t leave.” Harry explained.

\-------------------------------------------------------

Hermione saw a figure in red stood to her right, behind the troops. “Commander Genesis Rhapsodos, call your troops off or I _will_ burn them.”

"Better do it, Genesis, Hermione doesn't make idle threats." Ron warned.

Gulping, Genesis stepped out into the firelight. He decided to play the humble approach. "Sweet flower of gold, radiant Goddess of power, please I ask you to stop this."

Hermione smirked, "begging, Genesis? Really? I would have thought you would just have me shot dead for what I'm doing. Goodness knows the rest if your company wants to."

So much for the humble approach, "they'll have to go through me first, Hermione. Come on, now, stop this..."

"I WILL NOT!" The dragon moved away from the troop that had attacked and landed behind Hermione and gave a roar, causing everyone bar the 1st class SOLDIERs and the two male wizards to back off from the heat. "I will not _bow_ to soldiers who prey on the civilian populace," Genesis took a step back, Sephiroth and Angeal both looked at the ground.  
Harry and Ron, however, remained unchanged, both of them knowing that Hermione had seen something horrific to be acting this way.

"I will not bow to the whim of a man who helps to command so called soldiers that think it a good idea to leave a six-year-old boy lying on the floor dying of his injuries and holding the severed arm of his dead mother!"

"Oh boy, that'll do it. She's not going to come out of this easily." Ron stated.

“Hermione, please…. I understand that you are angry with us and Goddess knows we deserve it, certainly in your eyes.” Genesis stepped forward, braving the heat of her fiery guard. “But please understand that, although we are the ones that are doing the killing, _we_ are simply following orders.”

“LIES! You once told me that you enjoyed the thrill of a battle…”

“Yes, I did! But only with battle-ready warriors, people who _want_ to fight… Goddess that doesn’t make it sound any _better_.”

Hermione frowned as she watched Genesis sound bitter in his own words. “He is right, Hermione.” Sephiroth stepped forward. “The troops currently surrounded by your fire are not here under any other order save their platoon commander’s. Genesis, Angeal and I _did not_ give them orders to come here and kill. They came here of their own accord.  
By rights I should let you kill them, but then that would make you no better than us.” The fire in Hermione’s eyes faltered and Sosuke came to stand at Hermione’s shoulder.

“What the General says is correct. It does not excuse _what_ they have done, but I do not believe the three commanding officers of this army ordered this attack.” Hermione turned to face Sosuke. This Wutanese man had been so kind to her, why was he sounding like he was calming her down?

“But, Sosuke-”

“You have done as you had promised, now please, soothe this rage and return to your friends.” he interrupted her. Suddenly, Sephiroth’s words echoed through her head again and the fire in her eyes and around the broken defences died out.

Hermione sighed before bursting into tears and falling to her knees, Harry, Ron and Genesis were by her sides in a flash. Still with tears falling down her face, Hermione’s vision blurred and she succumbed to the blissful darkness of unconsciousness.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis was the one to catch her. “We’d better get her out of here Genesis.” Ron stated. Nodding in agreement Genesis lifted Hermione into his arms and turned to face Sosuke.

“Thank you, for taking care of her. And I am so very sorry for what has been done, rest easy knowing that they will be punished severely.”

Sosuke nodded. “I hope for your sake, Commander, if there is to be bloodshed in that punishment, it is done away from her. I fear her outburst was due to the underlying shock of war.”

“So do I.”

“Commander Tseng!” Sephiroth called, a young man about ten years older Harry, Ron and Hermione came out of the shadows. “the Commander will stay and help you with the clean-up, consider it another way of apologising. If any more assistance is required, please send word and we will come and help.” he offered.

Sosuke gave a small bow, “Dōmo arigatōgozaimashita.”  
Giving only a nod in reply, Sephiroth rounded on the platoon that were now coming out of their shock of nearly being burned alive.

“Where is your Captain?” One of the younger soldiers stepped up and fell to his knees.

“General Sephiroth, our Captain is behind those trees, he ran at the sight of the fiery dragon that girl created, he was the only one of us who did run, though.”

“I can see that, private. Know that none of you will get away from this unpunished.”

“Sir, for dishonouring the troops we will accept any and all punishment you see fit.”

Harry watched Sephiroth’s head tilt back just enough for him to see Genesis holding the still unconscious Hermione, there was an evil smirk on his face, “the punishment that _I_ see fit is the one you have just been spared from.” a collective shiver ran across the troop and Harry and Ron.  
“Get up, all of you, we return to the camp.” Sephiroth turned to leave but the sound of a child’s voice stopped him.

“No! What have you done to my angel?” A little boy ran past the two wizards and pulled at Genesis’ coat. “Have you hurt her? Why have you hurt her?”

“What’s he saying?” Ron asked, the little boy was crying.

“Wake up, angel! Please, angel, wake up! My angel!”

It was Sosuke that answered. “This is Satoshi, judging by his apparent affection for Hermione, I would say that he was the source of her anger. He thinks you have hurt her, Commander. Let me talk to him.” He approached the little boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Your angel is going to be alright, Satoshi. She has simply passed out from exhaustion.”

Tears kept falling from little Sosuke’s eyes, he continued to sob; he could not have been any older than seven. It tore Harry and Ron up to see that he had attached himself to Hermione. “Watashi wa kanojo ga taizai shitai!”

Harry watched Genesis’s stiffen, clearly he could understand the child. “Genesis, what did he say?” Ron walked up to the Crimson Commander.

“He- he wants her to stay."

Harry and Ron looked at each other before looking at the boy. “That’s not good… ah, Hermione?” Ron placed a hand on Hermione’s head as the young witch now started to stir in Genesis’s arms.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Urgh my head! Did anyone get the troll that hit me?” She heard several chuckles from around her, finally opening her eyes, Hermione blinked at the sight of crimson. “Genesis?”

“Hello, angel.” Genesis quite liked that nickname. Genesis placed his golden flower onto her feet.

“Tenshi! Tenshi!” Hermione jumped and looked down to see an attachment around her waist.

“Satoshi? Haha, hey, I'm alright. Come on now, stop crying.” the little boy looked up at her tears streaming down his little face. 

“Stay with me angel! Please stay with me!” Hermione blinked and looked up at Sosuke. 

“What do I do? I can’t take him with me, not where I’m going.” Hermione looked away from the group and the little boy before thinking of something.  
“Satoshi, come here a moment.”

The little boy came over, he looked terrified, Hermione knew this was going to be hard, but she had to make him understand. “Now then, you know I’m an angel, right?”

“Yes, I do.” 

“Well there are other children, like you, who need me more than you do right now. I promise you I’ll come back to see you once my task is done, until then you’re going to have to stay with Sosuke and his family, please.”

The little boy’s eyes lit up. “So you are a guardian angel to children like me? Then I will let you go, you need to help those other children.” Satoshi looked around for something in his pockets and pulled out a little pebble with a symbol on it, it was the Wutanese kanji for protection. “Take this with you, so that you can be safe and remember me.” 

A lonely tear fell from Hermione’s eyes as she took the stone and placed it into the pouch that Kasumi had given her. “Thank you.”

Genesis came up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, “come on, let’s get you out of here.”

Satoshi ran up to Hermione and buried his face into her kimono. “Goodbye, my angel, I hope you win all the battles you have to fight from now on. Please be safe.”   
He released her and ran over to Sosuke who nodded a farewell to her.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The disgraced troop and the troop that had arrived with the boys all walked in formation whilst Hermione, Ron and Harry walked with the three SOLDIERs, the walk was silent with Harry and Ron stealing the occasional glance at Hermione who was walking in the treeline, her mind elsewhere.  
“May I ask you two something?” Sephiroth had held back to walk with the boys.

“Sure, ask away.” Harry replied.

“Has Hermione always been able to do that? Use her powers as a weapon, I mean.”  
Harry frowned.

“She’s always told us that – if she wanted to – she could kill every human being on earth if she was angry enough. And that that thought alone scares her that much that anyone who tries to use her powers for their own use usually gets a lasting scar, one of the physical and one of the psychological variety. Theoretically yes, practically, no.” Ron answered in a deadpan voice.   
He was looking after Hermione as she wandered a little deeper into the trees, “is there a river along that treeline?”

Genesis answered. “Yes there is, why?” 

“Come with me.” Sephiroth called over to Angeal to join them, the troops were ordered to continue back to the camp.  
What the three SOLDIERs were expecting to find was Hermione wading in the water, but what they actually found shocked them to a greater extent.  
“That is what she usually does with her magic, she entertains, expresses herself.” 

What they were all seeing was Hermione walking on top of the water, and the surface of the water (only the surface mind) was freezing under her feet, she was singing to herself too, Harry recognised the tune as the Vuelie from the most recent Disney film; Frozen.  
She continued to sing as she walked along the river, the boys all following them.

Hermione only came off of the river and stopped singing when she heard voices of other men calling out to the troops; they had made it to camp.  
“You have an amazing talent, Hermione.” Angeal greeted as she re-joined the party.

“Thank you, Angeal. Genesis may I have a word with you, please?” Hermione looked tired, Harry and Ron wandered over to the fire and sat with Angeal and Sephiroth, the former discussing what to do with the troops that had attacked the camp.

“What is it?” 

Hermione flung herself at Genesis. “I’m so sorry! I really, really, am!”

Genesis felt his heart stop for a few seconds as hard, painful sobs racked his Golden Flower’s body. Dropping to his knees, Genesis cradled the sobbing witch tightly in his arms. “There now, it’s okay, you were angry, and you had every right to be angry. It’s okay.” He knelt there in the mud listening to her tell him how they had treated her, of how she had found the boy with the severed arm of his already deceased mother, of how she had suddenly stopped being afraid, every word was like a knife in Genesis.   
Once the sobbing and the stories had stopped, she looked up at him with watery eyes and smiled.

“Thank you, for coming for me.” She rested her head back onto his shoulders and Genesis rested his head on top of hers.

Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but upon seeing Brother stood behind Hermione, Genesis knew she had to go back home.  
“Other?” Genesis stiffened, “do we have to go back?” she must have got her answer, because she pulled out of Genesis’s embrace and got to her feet.  
“Harry, Ron! Come on, we have to go home.”

Suddenly she was bowled over by a young man in a light blue uniform. “Oops! Sorry, miss I didn’t see you there, whoa!” The young man was about two years older than Hermione, he had jet black hair and bright blue eyes, _he must be a SOLDIER 3rd_ she thought, laughing as Angeal grabbed his weapons harness and began scolding the boy.

“Haha ha ha ha! It’s okay, Angeal, I’m not hurt, I think he caught me before I hit the ground.” Turning to the boy she held out her hand.  
“Hello, I’m Hermione Granger, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The boy wriggled out of Angeal’s grip and shook her hand with a surprising gentleness. “Nice to meet you, Hermione, I am SOLDIER 3rd Class Zack Fair. Sorry for running into you like that I should have been more careful. Wh-whoa!” Hermione’s hand became transparent. 

Harry and Ron walked over to her and all three smiled in farewell at the three SOLDIER 1st and Zack. “See you soon, Genesis!” Ron called. They arrived back at Grimmauld place with Hermione finding she was still in her kimono, which sent them all into a laughing fit.  
“Well, at least you came back with a souvenir.” Harry joked as the three of them settled down for some food.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other and Brother now had their own problems to deal with as someone was now aware of their presence.   
“What do you two think you are doing, interfering with two separate worlds and colliding them, do either of you know what you have _done_?”   
It was their father.


	8. A Third Evil?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having been caught, Other and Brother tell their parents the story of how they found their chosen champions.

“ _Well_? Answer me, one of you.”  
Father was a tall man with a fierce face, silver hair and a scar running diagonally down his face from his left eye to the right side of his lower jaw.

“Father, please, we are trying to avert a crisis –” Other began only to be struck hard by her father.

“Impudent whelp! You have most likely _caused_ the travesties that are to transpire! And even if you have not, you are interfering in situations, worlds and _lives_ that are meant to be!” Brother helped his sister to her feet, placing a hand on her shoulder.

He then turned to his father, “father, we are doing no such thing. What my sister is trying to tell you is that we are guiding two people to their rightful places in their lives.  
Hermione Granger and Genesis Rhapsodos need each other in their lives – whether they end up together or not – they need each other, the courage and support from one helps to guide the other through their trials.”  
This time Brother was at the receiving end of his father’s temper.

“You have torn apart the fabric of the worlds! No two worlds should be allowed to collide!”

“But why not?! What are you so afraid of? Happiness? If that’s so, then continue to beat my brother and I! We are not stopping this; they _will_ be happy!”

Other was about to receive another slap from her father but a gentle pale hand landed on his arm.  
“Come now, Beloved. Leave the children be. They are only doing what you and your sister did years ago.”  
Their mother had platinum blonde hair and pale blue eyes, she was Mother Gaia, the Goddess that Genesis had started to worship, and the Goddess that Hermione had worshipped since she was a child.

“That is why I do not want them to continue with this endeavour, I lost my sister to the wrath of a man who did not get what he wanted. He took his anger out on the one person trying to help him.” 

Other and Brother looked at each other. “Father, we will not end up like that, we give you our word.” Other spoke softly, imitating their Mother perfectly.

Father sighed and looked them both over. “Very well, but first, you must tell Mother and I how you managed to break the fabrics that I had toiled for so long to strengthen.”

_Flashback – Other – Her First Meeting with Hermione._

Other had spent the first few years of her short life watching two things, her Brother and a young witch named Hermione Granger. She came to notice this young witch when the girl was only eleven years old, what had brought her to this particular witch?  
Well simply put, Halloween.

Yes, that’s right, when Hermione had spent the rest of that particular day in the girl’s bathroom Other had found her sat in mid-air in one of the cubicles, over one of the toilets, her knees under her chin, tears freezing as they fell from her hazel eyes.  
“I’m not a nightmare, I’m…” she sighed in defeat. “I’m just trying to help them whilst proving my own kind of witch wrong. A wiccan _can_ coexist with the wizarding community. I’m going to show them that I am more than just an insufferable know-it-all.” Icicles floated and danced around her, turning into tiny figure skaters. 

Other leant over the wall to the world to get a better look at this girl. _Wow_ , she thought, _how can anyone hate someone who can perform such beauty?_  
Leaning back through the wall, Other hurried to find the book that was kept for this particular girl, bumping into Brother once she entered.  
“Whoa, careful Brother. What do you have there?”

Her Brother clutched a thick book and looked sheepishly at his Sister. “A book belonging to the soul of a man named Genesis Rhapsodos. Why are you here, Sister?”

She grinned. “I’m looking for a book belonging to a young lady named Hermione Granger. So don’t worry, I won’t tell Father if you don’t.” Tipping her now beaming Brother a wink, Other went into the library and searched high and low for this book.  
“Ah-ha! Found you!” Pulling the book down from the shelf, she hurried back to the wall to see Hermione diving under the sinks as an ugly Mountain Troll swung at her for moving.  
_That would be an easy battle if she could use the magic that she was using before as a weapon._ Thought Other as she sat down cross-legged and opened the book to the first page.

**Hermione Jean Granger, born September 19th 1991, was born of two Wiccan witches by name of Daniel and Fiona Niall, she is the youngest of three siblings and the only daughter.  
At the age of three she was dubbed as an uncontrollable Wiccan, a “loose cannon” these particular wiccans are born with an unstable magical core that not many can control; those that can usually remain socially recluse.  
This particular Wiccan, however, was never allowed to hide. In fact, her brothers often encouraged her to socialise with other people, especially those her own age.**

Humming to herself, Other wanted to skip the drivel, but she noticed something a few pages ahead.

**At the age of seven, Hermione suffered the third greatest loss in her short lifetime. Not only had her parents had left them in the care of their aunt and uncle, but during their four-year absence she had also lost her brother Linden.  
Linden had been tricked by their father’s ex-wife, Selene Belltower. Jealous of the love and adoration that their mother received from their father, she devised a plan to separate the family.  
Whilst the parents had been away she had convinced Hermione’s half-brother Cal Blair to convince Linden that summoning a dark tahib was the only way they could bring their parents back.  
It is worth noting that Cal Blair did this unwillingly as he was very fond of the three siblings.  
Linden used his sister as a catalyst due to her immense power, unknown to the two children, however, was the ugly truth behind her being the catalyst; it meant that she was to be the sacrifice to the spirit.  
Hunter had found the two just as the spirit emerged from the darkness and started to feed on their little sister.  
Linden was in a panic as he did not want to kill his beloved sister, and so begged the oldest to pull the youngest from circle.  
Even at such a young age, Hermione knew that the spirit would turn on Linden and kill him, she screamed and begged Hunter not to do it, but Hunter did it, with every intension of taking Linden’s place, but the spirit was too fast and had left Linden as a corpse.**

“Wow, that must have been horrific to witness at such a tender age.” Other mused, returning to the passage.

**A case was brought up with the ICoW who accused Hunter of their brother’s murder. Hermione, who was in the courts with their Aunt and Uncle alongside their cousin Sky Eventide, ran to her brother’s defence against the council’s wishes upon hearing that her brother had been the catalyst.  
Screaming that this was not the case, Hermione allowed a surge of power to run through her body, causing all bar her family to end up with a severe case of frostbite.  
Understanding that their accusation had been wrong, the council deemed her a ‘loose-cannon’ that meant she would take a bond on her powers, however the Seeker Kennet Muir was fair, and placed one on the young witch that would help her to control her magic until the time of her initiation at the age of 14 where from then on, she would have to control her magic herself with no outside help.**  
**From then on, with assistance from Hunter and Sky, she made sure that she could control her magic.**

**It was the incident at the ICoW that brought her to the attention to the Wizarding World, Headmaster Albus Percival Wilfrick Brian Dumbledore insisted that the Ministry of Magic bring this young witch to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where she could then learn to control her magic within a safe environment where, if ever she lost control, it could be explained as a spell gone wrong.  
However, Hermione took to the school like a duck to water, earning herself the title of the brightest witch of her age.**

**After her first year at the school, she decided to help the council find her parents by calling out to them with a piece of magic that was beyond her age.  
With her parents found, Hunter and Hermione changed their surname to Granger, the name that she had given to Dumbledore and the Ministry of Magic for the safety of her brother.**  
Other continued to read in earnest as she read the next three years and found her to be an intriguing individual.  
The book soon came to the parts that she was truly interested in; the future of Hermione Granger.  
Reading through carefully she noticed an anomaly in that the girl crossed paths with the Crimson Commander that her brother was reading about.  
Closing the book she hurried out to her brother’s room and decided to read the book to him, she didn’t have to go far as her brother was looking for her; apparently he had read a similar passage in his own book. 

_Flashback – Brother – His First Meeting with Genesis._

Brother had been engrossed in the world that Mother watched over, watching a man clad in crimson as he grew from a baby to a teenager.  
Humming in thought, Brother got to his feet and closed the window to Gaia and raced out to the Hall of Records where he began searching in earnest for the Crimson Man’s book. Finding it, he fist-pumped the air and raced out of the hall, running into his sister as he did. 

“Whoa, careful Brother. What do you have there?” 

Brother clutched the thick book close to his chest and looked sheepishly at his Sister. “A book belonging to the soul of a man named Genesis Rhapsodos.” He frowned, curious. “Why are you here, Sister?” 

She grinned. “I’m looking for a book belonging to a young lady named Hermione Granger. So don’t worry, I won’t tell Father if you don’t.” Brother beamed and scurried off to the window and rewound the lifetime of Genesis Rhapsodos so that he could listen as he read. 

**Genesis Rhapsodos was conceived by two ShinRa scientists by name Gillian Hewley and Deidrich Hollander and was born on the morning of 12th of March 1986 to two volunteers of the science department through artificial insemination, he was unloved by them, but not by the woman who conceived him, Gillian Hewley.  
Gillian had given birth to one other child at the same time as Genesis was born; this was his best friend come brother Angeal Hewley.  
Throughout his young life, Genesis was known to be a fireball; he was protective of Angeal and was the only one allowed to say hurtful things to Angeal as long as they were meant to be helpful to the man’s persona.  
An avid LOVELESS reader and theorist Genesis found solace in trying to figure out the meaning behind LOVELESS and what the final Act could possibly be, this love was tolerated by Angeal who would assist his best friend with the theories often to give him someone else to talk to about it as no one else shared an interest in it.** **Genesis was shunned by most of the children in Banora as he was the son of the richest man in the town, Angeal was the only one to stand beside him through thick and thin.**  
**This often caused him to get hurt for Genesis who would always get kicked to the ground, Angeal would attempt to calm the situation, only to be knocked down himself.  
Seeing the man who was like a brother to him fall to the bullies that were only after him made Genesis angry every time, Angeal would hold out his hand to Genesis and the two of them would always send the bullies packing back to their mothers.  
Nothing was ever done to the two boys who were only looking out for each other, however this would anger Genesis’s parents who forbade him from associating with Angeal as he was poor whilst Genesis was rich and as far as his father was concerned that made Genesis better than him.**

**Of course, Genesis defied his parents and stayed with Angeal, sharing his apple juice and love of LOVELESS as well as the Banora Whiteapples that grew in the town.  
Genesis never felt at home with his adopted mother and father, but they ran a very successful business after Genesis created the famous Banora Whiteapple Juice.  
Wishing to share this creation with Sephiroth (who is around three years older than Genesis) he and Angeal enrol in the SOLDIER programme and leave Banora.  
As Genesis and Angeal flew through the ranks of SOLDIER, they befriended Sephiroth and Genesis enjoyed sparring with him. But due to Sephiroth’s status as a hero, Genesis quickly became jealous.**   
**To this day his jealousy is the only thing that mars an otherwise perfect friendship between the three friends.**

Brother read on for several hours before reaching the part he was most looking forward to; his future.  
Seeing something in the book that made him frown, he got up and went to find his sister to ask her if she could explain it to him. As he got out of the room, he was surprised to see his sister coming towards him. 

“Brother, it would appear as though we have a dilemma.” Sister greeted him as she steered him to towards the garden. 

“What dilemma?” 

“We both are reading two very different books about to very different people in two separate and very different worlds, and yet, their futures both state that they will inevitably meet.” 

Brother nodded, “yes I was just coming to see you about that. But I thought Father had forbidden the collision of two different worlds?” 

“Yes, as had I. Yet the evidence is right here, in these books.” 

The siblings stopped and looked over the garden to where their parents were sat laughing lightly. “We shall have to be careful, see to it that when the two worlds collide, as the most likely will, the two we are now invested in help to cure and protect each other.” 

Brother frowned and looked up at his Sister, “you mean fall in love?” 

Sister shook her head. “If they fall in love then that would be perfect but I was aiming for a friendship at the very least. After all, Hermione Granger has another love interest in her world, though neither of them knows it yet.” 

“Is he important?” 

“Perhaps. I for one have no particular interest in the futures of the two boys that Hermione Granger associates herself with, so I don’t really know if they are important or not. We’ll just have to see.” 

“I wonder, how we were able to see through those two windows?” Sister looked over at her Brother, his eyes were curious as they had always been, behind that curiosity, however, was a worrisome look.  
“Especially when Father had sewn them shut so well.” He turned back to his Sister, “perhaps we should ask him?” 

“He would surely beat us for this.” Sister argued, wrapping an arm around her Brother, she steered them over to where the two of them played. “No, we shall ask him when he eventually finds out.” 

_End of Flashbacks_

Other and Brother looked up at their Father. “We have never interfered with their lives until now. Purely because their Books stated that this was when they were destined to meet, we decided to guide them, show them to each other through dreams first, but as Hermione has more magic in her soul than anticipated, we were able to send her to Gaia first and then use said magic to bring Genesis to her.”  
Other looked to their Mother, “we decided to only send them back and forth from each world when they were in need of each other.” 

They looked back to their Father who had hummed in thought. “You were right, Son. The two worlds should not have been opened like that. The seams must have been cut.” 

“What does that mean, Father?” Other asked, her Father looked down at them. 

“It means that I was wrong to beat you both,” he smiled for a moment. “What it means, Daughter, is that someone else has been tampering with the two worlds that you and your Brother have become infatuated with.” 

Other and Brother frowned before looking at each other. “But who could be tampering with the seams? Who would benefit?”  
This came from their Mother, she was leading the way to the Hall of Worlds; here a window to almost every world was sewn shut, with only a tiny sliver of light pouring through, this allowed Mother and Father to watch the Worlds. The only two exceptions were Gaia and Earth. 

“Voldemort.” Other answered. 

“ShinRa.” Answered Brother. Both siblings knew that if either of them found out about the other worlds, then Hermione and Genesis would become targets to both villains. 

“Hmmm, perhaps… no, it couldn’t be.” Mother hummed in thought, mumbling to herself. 

“Dear? What is it?” Father approached his Wife. 

Turning to face her Husband, Mother looked worried. “I can tell you of one other who would benefit from these two worlds colliding the way they are.” 

“Who, Dear?” 

“ _My_ Brother, the one who ruined everything for your Sister.” Other and Brother looked at one another. 

“Uncle? But why?”  
Other was suddenly grasped by the shoulders; Mother’s grip was tightening. 

“Daughter, tell me, have you or your Brother allowed either one of them to be seen by the darkness in that world?” 

Other thought for a moment, “no Mother I don’t think –” 

“Wait,” Brother spoke up, “I did not allow him to, but Genesis _was_ seen by the darkness of Hermione’s world.” 

“Of course! The day he –” Other spoke. 

“Jumped off of the Mako Canon in Junon!” they both finished. 

“That was the day that everyone on Hermione’s world noticed that she had vanished.” Other explained to Mother and Father.  
“Hermione had changed her appearance to resemble that of Earth’s Chosen One Harry Potter, he’s her best friend.  
As she was flying through the air on a Thestral, she and the man she was riding with were caught off guard when the Darkness of that world, Voldemort offered Hermione a quick death in return for the true location of her best friend.  
She screamed and, as she screamed, Genesis took a swan dive from the Mako canon in Junon and landed on him, pulling the Darkness away from her.  
However, he was there long enough for Voldemort to see him.” 

“How was he able to jump through both worlds so easily?” Father asked. Other and Brother looked at each other. 

“In that moment, their thoughts must have been of one another,” all looked towards Mother. “as one witnessed the danger and the other suffered at the hands of that very same danger, they must have simultaneously thought of one another, that and the girl’s true power, will have been enough to pull Genesis through long enough to ensure her safety.” 

“So, the Darkness for Earth knows of one of the most powerful and emotionally unstable men on Gaia.” Father heaved a sigh.  
“For now, the two of you are to cease contact with both worlds, _no_ arguments, your Mother and I will oversee the lives of these two individuals.” 

“But Father-” Other was going to speak out again Father’s wishes, but Mother held her down with a stern stare.  
_It’s not fair!_ She screamed in her mind. Looking to her Brother, she noticed the same look in his eye too, looks like they were going to get into even more trouble. 

Later that night, Other was looking down at Hermione, she was sat in the middle of a circle, Harry and Ron sat inside it with her, they were all meditating. _It’s amazing that the two boys can do this, I would have thought it to have been funny to them._  
She watched them come out of their trance, Ron catching her as she fell forwards, having lost consciousness, Harry broke the circle and helped Ron carry her over to the sofa that she had taken to sleeping on.  
_I should be down there, she needs to know about my Uncle._ Making up her mind, Other stepped in through the window to Earth, she was going to stay with Hermione Granger until she needed Genesis again. 


	9. Inner Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we are given a minor glimpse into the darkness soon to fester within the story to come.

Hermione was in a panic, they had just narrowly escaped the clutches of Yaxley at the Ministry of Magic, and that had left her with two, problems; one – they could no longer return to Grimmauld Place and two – Ron had been Splinched on the way to where they now were.  
Harry was busy setting up the tent as she finished calming Ron out of his injury induced shock.  
“There now. All better.” She soothed, running her hand gently over his head.

“Th-thank you.” He breathed, sitting up and looking over to where Harry was now emerging. 

“All set, except there are actually four rooms not three. Are we expecting Genesis to pop up anytime soon?” as he had spoken he was been walking over to them.

Hermione shook her head, “I don’t think so, no.” _I_ hope _not at any rate, I can’t have him see me like this._

“Then who is the fourth room for?” Ron asked as Harry pulled him to his feet by his good arm. “I always remember mum saying that the tent only puts in as many rooms as there are people. It’s meant for maximum comfort, so there must be a friend nearby.”

Hermione was about to say something when a rustle outside the barrier enchantments had them all reaching for their wands. “Peace, all of you, it’s only me.”   
Hermione’s eyes went from determination to confusion before falling to surprise. 

“Other?! How are you here? More importantly how are you seeing us?” Other simply stepped through the enchantments as though they were not even there.

“I’m the daughter of your Goddess, so naturally I can see you.” This was the first time she had dropped her usual way of talking and told her a straight answer.   
When Hermione raised her wand to Other’s chest, Other realised what she had said. “I understand that it sounds farfetched but, please believe me, it _is_ the truth. Now if we could all go inside, I will explain the reason for my visit, and why this marvel of magic has given me my own room.”  
Though still not convinced, Hermione lowered her wand and indicated for Other to enter the tent, both she and the boys needed to be careful  
“Careful of what? I assure you I am not here to cause you harm, if I was, I would have brought You-Know-Who’s goons with me instead of sending them in the opposite direction.” Hermione stalled.

“You did? But why?” they all sat down at the table, Hermione waved her wand and the kettle began to boil.

“Let’s just say that I am invested in the future…or rather,” Other took a nervous glance at Ron and Harry, “I am invested in _your_ future, Hermione.”

“ _My_ future? Again, why?”  
Hermione was getting more questions than answers.

Other looked at her hands. Hermione could tell that she was nervous. Placing a comforting hand over hers, Hermione smiled at Other. “Let me guess, you want to tell me, but you can’t because information like that isn’t set in stone. If I don’t like what I hear I may choose to go against what is meant to be. Is that about right?”

Other gave a chuckle, “yes, that is about it. It really is amazing how quickly you can grasp a situation.”

“Well I’m glad _she_ can, because Harry and I are lost.” Ron piped up, causing Hermione to giggle.

Other rolled her eyes playfully. “That is only because she is the only one it concerns. No offence to the two of you, but I can only say so much with you around as you may want to influence the decision that, in the end, is hers and hers alone to make.” 

“Okay _that_ we understand. So, how come you’re here then? Can you tell us that, at least?” Harry, who had been silent up until now, passed Hermione her mug of tea.

“Of course, it may concern you two as well as Sephiroth and Angeal.”  
Other took a tentative sip of the tea that Harry had handed her. “When you were pulled away from Wutai, Brother and I were actually caught by our Father and Mother.  
He was angry with us as we are interfering with two lives that would not have met otherwise. It turns out that this had happened once before, Father and his sister had done this once in other worlds. It did not go as well for my Aunt, as the man that she was trying to help, attacked Father and killed his sister because he did not get the end result that he wanted.”  
She stopped to take a sip of tea, before continuing.  
“After the death of his sister, Father sewed shut the doors to each world leaving nothing but a peephole in the centre of each one so that he and Mother could watch over the worlds and not be tempted to interfere with what had to be.  
One day I happen to stumble across one such doorway, only to find it fully open; it was this world. Brother had also found Gaia’s door wide open too.   
We decided to watch two certain individuals in their lives and see how they played out, only when we retrieved your Life Books we noticed something odd.”

“What was it?” Hermione felt she already knew the answer, but for the sake of the boys, she asked anyway. 

“The lives of Hermione Granger and Genesis Rhapsodos came together on one fateful day. Brother and I played out what the books said in perfect detail, that way nothing bad would happen.   
But we hit a snag when you were attacked by You-Know-Who, at that moment you and Genesis must have thought of each other at the exact same time, because for a split second, Genesis was able to cross into your world to save you, without help from either me or Brother.   
But it also meant that, for a few moments at least, he had become visible and known to this world’s darkness, which alerted Father and Mother to what we were doing, though they did not know who or how until we began to explain.”

Hermione, Harry and Ron waited for her to continue. “As we finished telling them the truth, Mother began to theorize something that neither she nor Father wanted you or Genesis to know about as – as far as they were concerned – the two of you would never be meeting again….”

“What?!” Hermione blurted, startling everyone else in the tent.

“Yes, but hush a moment whilst I finish because this is very important.” Hermione became silent, tears already forming in her eyes.  
“Mother’s brother, Uncle. _He_ was the one responsible for your two doorways being opened. He must have an ulterior motive, but we have yet to discover what it is. Not that Brother and I can find out much now, anyway.”

“Why?” Ron asked, he was worried too, he had grown to like Genesis as a friend. 

“We disobeyed our parents. They told us that we were to have no more contact with either of you ever again. Well this was unfair as we were… _are_ so invested in you two. So, we slipped through the respective doors and will remain beside you and Genesis until it is time for the ultimate decision to be made.”   
The boys looked over at Hermione, who was mulling over all of this information in her head. 

“You are aware that we will have to fight sometimes, right? Can you fight?” Hermione asked.

Other shook her head. “No, I cannot, it goes against my vows, but that does not mean that I cannot help out a little, after all, I’m breaking the rules now. It’s a bit exciting really.” They all giggled at this.  
Other jumped slightly at a scratching sound coming from the jar in the centre of the table.   
“Is that it? The Horcrux?” 

The trio nodded. Other took a deep steadying breath, Hermione could feel something was off with her, but decided against asking.  
“Come on. Let’s get this food cooking and then we can get some sleep.” She announced, getting up and opening up a stew pack and began to cook.

\---------------------------------------------------

Brother had just finished explaining things to Genesis too.   
Unlike his sister, however, he did not show himself to Sephiroth and Angeal. “Why won’t you show yourself to them? They know everything about you that I do.” Genesis was sat in the public cafe with Brother, who had donned the clothing of the locals just as his sister had done. 

“I’m afraid you’ll laugh at me if I told you the truth.” Brother _really_ didn’t want to admit it, but he was _terrified_ of Sephiroth.  
Genesis must have got his answer from Brother’s eyes, because he suddenly started to grin wickedly.  
“You see? I told you, you would laugh if I told you.”

“Sephiroth is _not_ as terrifying as he seems. He’s just not used to being around new faces, that’s all. Come on,” the Crimson Commander got to his feet. “We’ll go and see them, introduce you to them, that way you don’t have to keep hiding from everyone.”

As the two left the hall, Genesis flinched and leant against the wall. Brother rushed to his side.  
“Are you alright, Genesis?” he asked, concern growing ever stronger in his chest as he watched Genesis rub his left shoulder.  
 _His wound has reopened since we last met. If his pain is anything to go by, then it is getting worse._

“I’m fine, it’s just my shoulder, and it’s been playing up recently. Getting worse as the days go by, especially since Wutai, when I last saw Hermione.”  
Giving a groan, Genesis pushed himself up against the wall, steadying himself, as he looked over at Brother.   
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Come on, I want to catch the other two before they’re inundated with paperwork.”

The worry, however, was now cutting so deep into Brother’s heart, that he feared this would mark the start of everything. _What am I supposed to do? I cannot simply walk beside this man and let him-_

“Hey! You’re going to wrong way.” Genesis’ voice called him back and he saw Genesis heading down the left corridor whereas Brother has wandered down the right. Cocking his head in confusion, Brother looked down the corridor he had been wandering, _something has to be down here, or else I wouldn’t have wandered this way..._

“Sorry, I guess I was so deep in thought I didn’t see you turn off.” Hurrying after Genesis, Brother felt a chill go up his spine.

Several days pass without any further problems with Genesis’ shoulder plaguing him, so Brother began to observe the two he surrounded himself with. As anticipated, Sephiroth was _not_ happy about Brother’s sudden appearance, but Genesis had clearly been completely open about Brother’s comings and goings and was willing to share his home with him, on the condition that he didn’t snoop in areas he didn’t belong, and stuck by Genesis at all times during the day.  
“Well in all honesty, General, what do you think I’m _doing_ here? I did not defy my Mother and Father just to walk around nosing into other people’s business. Besides which, I know more about this company that even ShinRa himself.” When Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at this statement, Brother just tapped his nose and winked with a grin. “Sorry, can’t tell you _all_ my secrets now, can I?”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Other and Brother were now both fast asleep, communicating with one another._  
“Brother, how is Genesis?”

“Weakening by the day, Sister, he is no longer pushing himself against Sephiroth as much, but the rivalry between the two is becoming worrisome. I fear he will lose his fight soon, if he is not careful. What of Hermione?”

_Other looked to the side, her eyes darkening._ “She too, is beginning to see black. There is darkness in her heart, one that is fuelled by anguish and worry for Genesis. She is also losing sleep over this Horcrux they have here... Brother, it makes me uneasy. The foul object is trying to tear the three of them apart, it has already found its way into the cracks in Ronald Weasley’s heart, it is only a matter of time before Hermione’s heart becomes at risk.”

_Brother placed a comforting hand on his Sister’s shoulder._ “Perhaps a visit is in order.”

_Looking at her Brother, she nodded,_ “Yes, perhaps you are right, only this time I think it is high time, Sephiroth and Angeal came to their world. Can you arrange it for tomorrow?”

“I shall tell Genesis that he is to lead Sephiroth and Angeal out of Midgar tomorrow. The three of them have a week off, so I think they can travel with your three for now. Just to offer support.”

_Other nodded,_ “Then it is settled. I shall see you tomorrow, Brother.” 

“Goodnight, Sister. Sleep well.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genesis awoke the next morning to find a note on his bedside table, getting up and dressing, he was greeted by Sephiroth and Angeal, both of whom were holding identical letters.  
“It would appear as though your friend wants us to join him for some reason. Though why he wants us to join him outside the city I do not know.”   
The ever suspicious Sephiroth spoke as the three of them gathered their weapons and departed. The letter had also explained that Lazard – the Director of SOLDIER – was only aware that the three were going on vacation, that way no one would miss them if they didn’t come home tonight.

Having reread that part again, Genesis suddenly grinned, “We’re going to see her!”  
Racing down the staircase, he left a puzzled Sephiroth and Angeal in the dust to catch up.

“Going to see her...? Oooh, you mean Hermione.” Angeal shared a sly grin with Sephiroth. “You really like this one, don’t you?”

“What’s not to like?” Genesis replied, turning towards Sector 5 train Station, this would take them to the market in the Slums, from there, they simply followed the road out of the city.  
“I mean, she’s smart, she’s beautiful and she has an inner fire that makes her a formidable woman, she is truly a marvel.”

Once the three of them were clear of the city only two and a half hours later, did the SOLDIERs meet Brother, who was waiting beside a door.  
“This is the only way my Sister and I can get you all to and from the two worlds without Mother and Father knowing. Simply step through and follow the red bird, I shall await you at the campsite.” Brother greeted, opening the door and stepping aside to let them go through first.  
Genesis entered without a second hesitation. Angeal and Sephiroth looked at each other before Sephiroth walked forward cautiously, closely followed by Angeal.   
As Genesis exited the other side, he stepped to the left to allow the other two through.   
“I wonder where we are?” he mumbled as the other two got their bearings.

A red bird suddenly flew under Sephiroth’s nose whirling round their heads until Angeal caught it gently in his hands.  
“This is like no bird I have ever seen,” he stated, looking at the other two.

“Maybe it’s native to here.” Sephiroth suggested, looking at Genesis, he frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Follow the red bird. That was what he said. Angeal let it go. I think it’ll lead up to where we need to be.” Doing as instructed, the three followed the red bird before coming to a stop in a glade.

“How far do you think we’ll have to go?” Sephiroth asked, Genesis, having no answer to give, just remained silent.  
Night had fallen by the time the trio had reached the glade; it was illuminated by the moonlight and there were around six rather nasty looking men surrounding the glade, the cause the three to stop and hide.

“AHHH!” the men suddenly screamed, all of them seeming to spontaneously combust, it was then that Genesis saw it. The red bird was circling the area just above the burning men.

“Harry, Ron, take Other and GO!” Hermione’s voice rang out in the darkness, the flames burning the men dying as three other figures made for Genesis’ hiding place.

“But what about Hermione?!” Other made to turn back but was held back by Harry.

“Provided _we_ are not caught, Hermione _will_ find us, she’ll be fine, now _move_!” Harry hauled Other away but stopped short of running into Ron. “Ron, go! She’ll be fine!” 

“Alright!” They bolted past Genesis who was about to call out to them when he was pulled back by Brother.

“Wait.” He said, “not yet.”

“Get them! I’ll take care of the little firecracker here! CRUCIO!”   
The wizard was clearly not expecting Hermione to avoid the spell. They danced until another wizard caught her off guard.

“Now, go! You two, with me, Genesis you get Hermione, and remember, follow the bird!” Brother led Sephiroth and Angeal after Harry and Ron whilst Genesis felt his anger boil as the wizard with the wand decided to sucker punch _his_ Golden Flower.

“Get away from her!” he shouted, using his SOLDIER speed to catch one of the two men off guard, killing him outright.

“Stay back! Or I’ll kill your girlfriend in an instant!” the one holding his Golden Flower hostage pulled the two of them back causing Hermione to wince in pain.

Standing up straight Genesis spoke to Hermione. “Are you hurt?”

“No, just a little embarrassed that I never saw him coming.” Her voice was calm, as though having a casual conversation. “Now that you are here, however, perhaps you can help me?”

Catching her drift, Genesis smirked, “My friend, your desire is the bringer of life, the gift of the Goddess.”  
Hermione head butted the creep from behind then hit the floor as Genesis threw a fireball at him, Hermione kicked his leg out from under him sending him screaming to the ground.

Genesis was then caught off guard by something he never thought he would see.  
“Why couldn’t you have just left us _alone_?!” she pulled out a kitchen knife and Genesis watched as though in slow motion as Hermione Granger drove the knife right through her attacker’s larynx killing him instantly.

\---------------------------------------------------

Other stopped short, causing the others to stop. “Oh no.” She breathed, looking back in the direction of Genesis and Hermione.

“What is it Sister?” Brother placed a worried hand on her shoulder. Other turned to face the group, a lonely tear falling down her face as rain began to fall. 

“He has gotten to her, Brother.” she threw herself into Brother’s arms and sobbed, leaving everyone else looking around wondering what had happened.

\---------------------------------------------------

Hermione felt something cold hit the back of her neck, flinching, she came to the realisation that it was raining.  
“Her-Hermione?”   
Snapping her head to the side, Hermione saw her Crimson Angel approaching her half a step at a time, the way one would approach someone who was about to jump off of a bridge.  
“Are you alright?”

Hermione frowned, “yes, I’m fine, why?” Her frown deepened when she felt something in her hand.  
Looking down at her hand she froze, her eyes widening as they stared in disbelief at the blood-soaked knife being held in her bloodstained hand.  
Shaking at the reality of what she had just done, Hermione began to hyperventilate, tears blurring her vision, releasing the knife, she made to wipe them away only to see the blood on her hand again, this time she screamed.

Her scream was heartbreaking, feeling strong arms wrap themselves around her shoulders pulling her close and holding her tight, crying she gripped onto whoever it was holding onto her afraid that, if she let go, she would fall back into that abyss.

\---------------------------------------------------

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, it’s okay.” It was all Genesis could say.  
Hearing rustling from behind him, he released her, summoning his blade and shielding his Golden Flower from further harm.  
As he raised his blade, he heard it clash with another blade, causing them to sing. Breathing a sigh of relief, Genesis knew that blade, “Sephiroth.” 

“Genesis,” the two lowered their weapons, Genesis took note that Sephiroth was the only one who had come back.  
“Angeal and I took care of the other attackers, the boys and the twins are with him, they’re inside a churchyard. I told Angeal I would come and fetch y-” Genesis watched as Sephiroth’s eyes fell on the dead body and the unusually quiet form of Hermione.  
“What happened?”

Genesis looked at the ground, “I don’t really know myself. She just snapped.”

“ _She_ did this?” Genesis nodded glumly. Sephiroth puffed his cheeks out, blowing out a sigh. “Well we cannot let the others see her in this state. I hear a stream nearby. Let’s get her cleaned up.”

“What about the body?”

“Leave that to me.” Other suddenly appeared, startling the two SOLDIERs. “I can hide the body, just get her cleaned up and then we can go.” She was oddly serious, her eyes dark.

“You aren’t angry with her, are you?” Genesis asked, picking up his flower.

“No. Just my Uncle. _He_ is the cause of this darkness that is now beginning to fester in her heart.” The words were cold and unlike her or her brother. 

“Come on, Gen, let’s get her cleaned up, we need not speak of this to Harry and Ron.” Sephiroth spoke gently so as not to worry Hermione, who was showing classic signs of having gone into a deep state of shock.

“Agreed. So where was this stream?”  
The two walked in silence until Sephiroth motioned for Genesis to follow his lead.  
“Ah, there it is. We can replenish their water supply whilst we are here.”

“Good thinking, they do have more mouths to feed now.” Sephiroth held Hermione still whilst Genesis cleaned the blood from her hands and face.  
“Hm? What’s this?”

“What’s what?” Genesis looked over at Sephiroth who looked back at him thoughtfully.

“Forgive me, Hermione, I just want to get a closer look.” Genesis looked at him in curiosity as Sephiroth circled a slender finger around Hermione’s neck, pulling out a golden chain.  
\---------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Other was disposing of the body when she felt a malevolent presence behind her. “Uncle.”

“Ah, sweet Niece, so it _is_ you and your Brother.” Having fully disposed of the corpse, Other turned to face her Uncle.  
Like Mother, he had a platinum blonde hair but he had darker skin that she, his face was marred with scars from a fight he had been in with Father.  
“What a pleasant surprise. How are you?”

“Enough of the pleasantries, Uncle. What do you want with them?” Other stood defiant, but she silently hoped Genesis would return, this man was someone she was not strong enough to defeat. 

“Ever the impatient one, aren’t we?” He stroked her cheek, his sickly-sweet smile belaying an evil intent. “I am afraid, however, that you are going to have to wait and see, wouldn’t want you to ruin the game now that it has gotten interesting. Farewell, Niece, I shall see you soon.” And with that, he vanished. 

\---------------------------------------------------

“Other?” Hermione came out into the clearing with Genesis and Sephiroth in tow.

“Nice to see you back on your feet.” Other smiled gently at her Chosen One. “How are you feeling?”

“A little better, I think.” Hermione hugged herself a shudder running up her spine.

“We think we know what caused her outburst.” Genesis announced, holding up the locket that Hermione had been wearing. “I believe this is one of those Horcruxes, yes?”  
Other nodded, “good. Then it would appear as though it fed off of Hermione’s inner darkness, though how someone like you could _have_ that kind of inner darkness is a mystery for another day.” Pocketing the locket, Genesis clapped his hands. “Now, let’s get back to the others, lest they think we have abandoned them.” 

Sephiroth led them to the church where Harry and Ron raced over to greet Hermione with a warm hug that she all but fell into.   
Hermione watched from the corner of her eye as Genesis snuck the locket into the glass jar Other had pulled out of Hermione’s beaded bag.  
Shivering from the cold, Hermione broke the embrace and picked up a long stick.  
“Come on, we’d best go.”

Everyone took hold of one part of the stick – three looking utterly perplexed – and Hermione thought of the next place to hide.  
It turned out to be a small town, and it was market day.  
“Good job I have money. I’ll go and get some food, Harry,” Harry turned to Hermione who was busy scribbling something onto a scrap of paper. “I want you to lead everyone else to this place, just pretend that you’re showing some tourists the site, I’ll meet you there in an hour.”  
Without waiting for a reply, she took off towards the market; she did not see Sephiroth give Genesis a nudge in her direction.

“Hermione?” Genesis caught up with her as she entered the shop.

“Oh, hello. I would have thought you would have stayed with the others.” Hermione’s voice sounded annoyed; Genesis smiled. He knew what was wrong.

“We need to talk about what happened back there.” He leant in closer and wrapped his hand around the shopping trolley’s handle, effectively pushing her out of the way.

“No, we don’t.” She snapped.

Hermione stopped suddenly in her tracks as Genesis swung the trolley about-face and caused her to walk into the front of it with an “oof!”   
“Yes. We. Do.” His eyes flashed dangerously. “I have no idea where that came from you back there, but I know I do _not_ want to see it again.”

“Genesis, I am in no mood for this, let’s just get the food and get out of here.” Hermione pushed past him.  
They walked in silence through the store, with Genesis only speaking up when there was something on a shelf that he didn’t know.

Once night had fallen over the campsite and dinner was cooking, however, Genesis took Hermione by surprise by suddenly standing. “Angeal, if you wouldn’t mind taking over dinner for me, Hermione and I need to have a private conversation,” Hermione blinked as Genesis lowered a glare at her, his pale blue eyes glowing in the darkness. “Whether she _likes_ it or _not_.”  
Harry and Ron were about to object when Other silenced them with a hand on each of their arms. Hermione sighed in defeat and handed Angeal the spatula.

Following her Crimson Angel, Hermione kept the frustration off of her face as best as possible.  
“What is it Genesis?”  
She took three steps back as Genesis spun around, blade in hand, resting it just at her left jugular artery.  
“Genesis, what are you doing?”

“Finding out what caused that inner darkness in you. In order to do that, I need to put you into a threatening situation.” Genesis advance on her.  
Hermione’s mind reeled.

“Or you could just ask –”

“So, you can tell me there was nothing wrong?” Genesis snapped at her, this boiled Hermione’s blood, why wasn’t he listening to her?

“I didn’t want to talk about it inside the supermarket now put that bloody thing down and I’ll talk to you!” Hermione shouted.  
Twigs suddenly caught fire, the fire was blue and spreading around Hermione’s feet.

“Oh really?” he replied sceptically. Watching him cock his head to the side, Hermione realised that this was the reaction he wanted the whole time. “Well it would appear as though your emotions really _do_ control your power.” Heaving a sigh, Genesis lowered his weapon, Hermione dropped her guard. “Alright, we’ll talk over here, come and sit with me.”  
Both, however, were still on high alert of the other.  
Sitting down on the log, Genesis leant on his knees, knitting his fingers together, regarding his Golden Flower as he spoke the one question that had been bothering him all night.  
“What happened to you back there?”

He watched as she mulled over the question, her head sinking into her hands as she shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t know. I just felt a darkness surround the campsite; I had only just put the locket around my neck as we don’t Apparate with it in the jar under normal circumstances. Other can’t wear it and I guess she didn’t think to ask one of you three to wear it.   
But as soon as I put it on and the Death Eaters came into the camp, I lost all control of my anger. One of them had struck Other and I felt angry, but I had also never felt such a power surge before.” She stood and Genesis watched her wave her arms around her as she explained. 

“The rush of power that surged through my veins... oh it was intoxicating, I heard a little voice in the back of my head telling me to roll with it, so I did. As for killing that man, I actually don’t remember doing it. All I remember was the feeling of immense satisfaction before I came round to see my hands covered in blood and a knife in his throat.” She looked down at Genesis.  
“An inner darkness... maybe there’s more to Other’s story that I want to admit.”  
Hermione sat down hard on the floor.   
“What do _you_ think?”

Genesis blinked, not expecting the question. “Me? Personally, I think you’re falling into what we call a SOLDIER’s Slump.”

“Huh?”

“Basically, when a new member of SOLDIER joins the ranks and goes into a major battle or a war for the first time, he gets himself into a slump.   
Allows himself to get swept up by the darkness of killing people, only once he returns with his comrades to the campsite, he has no real notion of how he was able to do it. Mulling over it for a time he becomes snappy, ill-tempered and frustrated with even those closest to him.   
We had one that snapped at Sephiroth once, and he just stood there and let the greenhorn vent, before Sephiroth just placed his hands on the boy’s shoulders and told him that it was going to be alright.   
That he was just suffering from the human condition, guilt and other feelings all fighting one another for dominance. This then creates depression which causes the slump.” Genesis stood himself.

“You are going through the first stage of it. Eventually you’ll become like us and it’ll just wash over you, the feelings just won’t be there anymore.”  
Placing his hand on Hermione’s shoulder he looked her in the eyes. “But I don’t _want_ you to stop feeling emotions, because they are what keep you from making mistakes and getting a taste for blood and death, just like us.”

He saw confusion set into Hermione’s eyes. “Just be you. The you that I have grown very fond of, the you that always thinks before she attacks and knows better than to kill. I know its war, but sometimes you become the better person if you _don’t_ spill blood. You are not me, Hermione.”   
It sunk in this time. Now he just pulled her close and held her tight, revelling in the comfort.

“Genesis? Hermione?” Sephiroth’s voice broke through the silence, startling the other two as he came through the trees.  
“Forgive the intrusion, but Angeal says that the dinner is done.” 

“Thank you, Sephiroth,” Hermione said in a quiet voice.

Sephiroth smiled down at her, “are you feeling better now?” 

“Yes,” she nodded. “Much better. Thank you.”  
Sephiroth nodded in reply and led the way back to the camp.


	10. Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we have a little drama and a little repite.

Tension in the camp was thick by the time Hermione, Genesis and Sephiroth returned, the tension was that thick that Genesis and Sephiroth actually hung back.  
“What’s wrong?” Hermione asked, coming to stand at the cauldron that was being used as a make-shift stew pot.

“Are you alright?” Ron asked, standing along with Harry.

“Y-yes...I’m fine, why?” Hermione folded her arms and cocked her head to the side.

“Then what’s this?” Harry asked, holding up the bloodstained knife that Hermione had used only hours ago. 

Hermione felt Genesis come up beside her. “It’s mine.” He said, matter-of-factly.

“No. It’s not.” Harry responded. “I watched Hermione pick that knife up before the attack on the camp.”  
Hermione felt her blood run cold as Harry continued. “We used spells to reveal the origin of the blood. It belonged to a Walter Aldercapt, a known Death Eater. That can only mean-”

“-You have no proof that it _wasn’t_ me that did it.” Genesis cut in. 

Ron stepped up this time. “The knife was used by Hermione, Genesis. The magic we used confirmed it.” 

Genesis was about to speak again but Hermione cut him off with a look. “I’m not going to lie to you. Yes, it was me, and don’t ask me how or why I ended up doing it because I don’t know.”

“It was the Horcrux that made you do it, wasn’t it?” Brother asked.

“I thought it was, but Genesis has just shown me that maybe it wasn’t. Maybe wearing that Horcrux gave me more nerve to do it than I would normally have, but that killer instinct is in me. I just have to rein it in, that’s all.”

“So, it wasn’t an accident, then?” Angeal spoke up.

“SOLDIER’s Slump, actually, Angeal.” Sephiroth spoke this time.

“What’s that?” Asked Ron.

Hermione returned to the cauldron as Angeal and Sephiroth explained once more, she blanked them out as she thought back to the attack.  
 _Am I becoming a killer? What if I hurt one of the others?_ Something in her went numb, she began to shake.  
“I can’t do this anymore.” She stated, silence followed her words and she heard someone walk up to her, looking straight in front of her she just put the ladle back into the pot and walked off into the woods.

“Wait, Genesis, Ron, let Other go.” This was all she heard before she shut herself off from everyone.

* _You are so much better them, child. You have a power that could over-throw every power-house on your world and the world of Genesis. You could keep them all safe –_ *

“* _Now that is not a fair fight, Uncle._ *” Other’s voice sounded both in Hermione’s head and right next to her.   
“* _You are not corrupting either of them. You will have to destroy myself and Brother if you do and the binding laws of our family state that you cannot harm us._ *” 

The other voice gave a growl before disappearing. Hermione blinked and looked over at Other, who was smiling. “Thank you.” She didn’t mean for the tone of surprise but she had not expected Other to silence the voice that had been in her head since the attack on the camp.

Other giggled, “always the tone of surprise.”   
Hermione stalled for a moment before laughter hit her.  
“Why did you walk away?”

“I don’t know how much more of this inner darkness I can keep back before I hurt someone I care about.” The words were blurted out loud before Hermione could stop them. “I’m afraid, Other. What if I do more harm than good on this journey, or in the war in general?”

“Now stop right there.” Hermione closed her mouth. “I will not hear these words coming from you. You are stronger than you know; all you have to do is choose _how_ you used that power. What happened at the campsite was both an accident and the fault of my Uncle, who seems to be hell-bent on getting you to fall into a Darkness that I will not allow you to.”  
Other wrapped the surprised Hermione into an embrace, it was warm and reminded her of Genesis, of Ron.

“How will I know if I make the right decision?” she asked quietly.

Other squeezed her in comfort, “I trust you. Plus Brother and I are here for you both, so you don’t have to worry about making the wrong decisions.”

Giving a sniffle, Hermione smiled. “Thank you. Come on, we’d best go back before the boys get worried.”

The meal was a better one than the trio had eaten in a while, moods were high, but they were not happy, all of them were worried about one thing or another, as well as worrying about her, Hermione knew it.  
“Okay, let’s get some sleep, we’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.” Genesis got up and stretch, Sephiroth had not moved.

“I’ll take the first watch, Genesis, you come after me, Angeal, you come after him.” He ordered, waiting for the other two to nod.

Ron frowned, “what about us?” he asked.

“You three are going to get some sleep. You have nothing to fear whilst we are here with you.” He answered, finally getting to his feet to hold open the tent flap.  
“We shall wake you at sunrise, that way we can move onwards towards the next target.”  
Sephiroth entered the tent and proceeded to the conveniently placed coffee pot on the stove, pouring himself a cup, he bid the others goodnight before going out to his watch.

Hermione made to clamber onto her bed only to miss her footing and cut her hand on the wooden railing.  
“Ow! Damn it!” the cut was deep and was now beginning to bleed heavily.

“Come here,” Genesis’ gentle voice reached her ears. A pale hand with pianist fingers gently wrapped itself over the underside of her hand whilst another held a pale green orb that lit up and flared. Placing the free hand over the wound, Genesis just sighed softly. “Be careful, my Golden Flower. The last thing I want is to see your blood spilled unnecessarily.”  
Hermione looked up into his pale blue eyes. She felt herself getting lost in those eyes, eyes that felt safe, eyes that were dangerous, but still they were safe.  
“Come on, up you go.”  
She let Genesis boost him up before he tucked her in and brushed a strand of hair out off of her face.

\---------------------------------------------------

Genesis turned to see Ron watching with a small smile on his face. “Come on, you as well. You need your rest more than the others, that necklace was beginning to affect you.”

Ron blinked. “It was that obvious?” 

“Haha, you’ve been glaring at me all night, so yeah, it was that obvious.” Genesis sat down next to Ron and gave him a playful nudge. “Come on, am I _that_ much of a threat?”

“Well, yeah.” Genesis dropped the smile. “You and Harry, you’re both better than me and Hermione adores you both. I just can’t compete.” Ron looked down at his hands.  
“I thought we’d have gotten somewhere with this Horcrux thing, but we haven’t even managed to destroy the one we already have. I dunno, maybe it’s just me being stupid, y’know?”

“Well I think you’re putting yourself down too much.” Genesis stated, not looking at Ron. “I’m always in competition with Sephiroth, that’s how I got my injury. He’s superior to me in every way; he has been the hero for as long as anyone can remember. But since you three came into my life alongside other revelations, I have become more grounded. Sephiroth and I have neither really battled, nor argued in general at all. You are not worthless, Ron. Hermione can see something in you, and that should be all that matters to you.” He patted Ron’s shoulder.  
“Come on, no more melancholy, it’s time for sleep. This wretched thing can stay up on the top shelf.” He took the glass from Ron and placed the trapped Horcrux on the top shelf in the kitchen.  
 _I love this world, they have so many simple things that make life that little bit easier._ He thought as he, too, got into bed and drifted off into a light sleep.

_He was sleeping, this he knew, but the darkness around him was suffocating. “You are the key, Genesis. Bring me the pure one, and I will cure your degradation!” Hollander? But when did he say this to him?_

_“Genesis?!” Hermione’s voice broke through the mist, he turned to face her, she was wearing a Turk’s uniform. Why?_  
 _“Please stop! I can’t lose you!”_

_He wanted to scream at her, tell her that he was here, that he was never going to leave her side, that he would protect her no matter what it cost him. But the words would not come, she was getting further and further away from him, acid green eyes suddenly filled his vision._

_“You will rot!”_   
_Sephiroth’s voice? Why was he saying that?_

“Genesis, Genesis!” Genesis woke with a start and made to run his attacker through, only to find his arms held firmly by Angeal.  
“Easy, SOLDIER it’s only me.”

“Angeal... sorry.” 

Angeal shook his head. “It’s alright. Anyway, I apologise for waking you, but it’s your turn to take watch.”

Nodding his head, Genesis poured himself a cup of coffee and shook his head, he was not prone to nightmares, but neither was he immune to them. He saw a flash of amber from outside the tent and quietly hurried out.

\---------------------------------------------------

Brother lowered his hand.  
Sister hit him across the back of his head causing him to wince. “You were not supposed to do that!” she hissed.

“It wasn’t me! I was trying to stop it.” He argued.

The two came to the same thought. “Uncle.”

########################################

Their Uncle cackled away, but stalled when he realised someone could see him. It was Sephiroth. The evil that would soon threaten Gaia.  
“I can hear you. I can see you. I do not know who you are, nor where you came from, but I demand that you leave my friends alone.” He purred, Uncle shivered with joy.

“Leave them alone? Oh no, no, no. They are instrumental to my ultimate goal and nothing my niece and nephew do will stop them _both_ from falling into the darkest pits of their desires. Your Commander will start it all off. He will be the reason for her to fight, oh I have no doubt of that, but he will also be her demise!” Continuing to cackle Uncle disappeared as Sephiroth threw a ball of fire at him.

################################################

“Sephiroth?”   
Genesis exited the tent to find Sephiroth on his feet, lowering his hand. 

“Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you. I just had a rather strange dream, is all.” Sephiroth looked uncharacteristically sheepish. 

Genesis chuckled, “seems to be the night for it. Angeal just woke me up from one as well.” He took Sephiroth’s place in front of the fire. “Anyway, I am here to take over the watch, so you go and get some sleep.”  
Sephiroth seemed to hesitate. “Go on,” Genesis urged. “I’ll be alright.” Genesis kept Sephiroth’s gaze until the higher-ranking officer gave in and returned to the tent.  
Four hours later, Genesis got up and stretched. Entering the tent, he found Angeal already at the pot.  
“Your turn old friend.” He announced before hopping up onto the bunk that Angeal had just vacated.  
He heard Angeal grunt in response, this caused him to chuckle. Angeal was not a morning person, but orders were orders.  
Genesis fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0

Three weeks later and they had all become rather comfortable living together in such a small space. Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis had even managed to hunt down a deer to fill to cupboards with meat, whilst Other and Brother helped with gathering fungus, berries and other edible flora for them to cook with the meat.   
As a result the mood kept well, Hermione found herself feeling much better that she had the night the three SOLDIER First Class had come to them.  
It was also a blessing in disguise that the three men were used to taking watch at night as Hermione, Harry and Ron had been allowed to get all the sleep they needed.

Hermione should have known better than to think it would last.  
She awoke to the now familiar smell of fire and the familiar sounds of laughter coming from outside.  
“Ah! There she is!” Greeted Genesis. “Good morning, my Golden Flower!”

She exited the tent onto the shore of the lake that they had come to rest at.  
Giving a tired chuckle, Hermione yawned. “Good morning, Genesis.” She looked around her and smiled at everyone, they were all tucking into a good breakfast that, to Hermione’s surprise, Other was cooking.  
“Good morning, Other! Oh, thank you.” Brother handed her a plate of bacon and sausage as she sat down next to Ron and nudged him playfully.  
“Morning.” She greeted.

“Morning. Did you sleep alright?” he asked.

Hermione nodded, “yeah, very well considering. Are you alright? You look like you got into a fight with a troll and lost.”

Ron was about to answer when Sephiroth spoke up. “He has that locket you had been wearing the other day around his neck.” Ron’s face paled as he looked over at Sephiroth. “And he thought no one had noticed him pick it up last night,” Sephiroth rose, stood before Ron and held out his hand.   
“You misjudged the fact that I had yet to fall to sleep when you rose from your bed.”

Everyone looked over at Ron, suddenly there was a black mist surrounding him as anger filled those deep blue eyes that Hermione loved so much. “Ron?”  
The anger disappeared and his eyes went blank.

Hermione frowned and went to reach for him to shake his shoulder, when she felt herself freeze when her magic warned her of a powerful force in his head. All she heard was Ron’s voice. “Crucio!”  
The pain that raced through Hermione was so great that she felt like she was going to die. She screamed high and loud.  
It was as though she was being constantly stabbed with sharp knives whilst having been set on fire all at once. She shook and convulsed as the pain both continued and increased.

“Ron stop!” she could hear voices shouting for Ron to stop, but it sounded like she had been submerged in water.

“ENOUGH!” That voice belonged to Other. 

The pain subsided and she found herself huddled in the foetal position, with Genesis holding her tightly.  
The next thing that reached her ears were words that she knew Ron had been thinking for a while.  
“You two don’t understand what it’s like, never knowing if they’re dead or alive. Neither of you know how it feels, neither of you have any parents, you have no family to worry over!”

Hermione got to her feet and raced for Ron, snatching the necklace from around his neck.  
“Is that _really_ what you think?!” she shouted, her anger rising. “Is it?!”   
Ron didn’t give an answer; he just glared at her, picked up his bag and pushed past her, disapparating as he went. “RON!!” Hermione screamed, looking wildly around them, “RON! Come back, _please_!”   
Spinning on the spot, she tripped over on the rocks and landed on the ice that was once the lakeside. 

“Hermione!” Harry slid out onto the ice after her, followed by the three SOLDIERs.

########################

Other held Brother back to speak with him.   
“That was a combination of that wretched Horcrux and Uncle.” She said.

Brother nodded, “agreed.” He looked out onto the ice to see Genesis scoop her up. “What a cruel thing to do.”

“Pack everything up, we leave when we’re done.” Sephiroth ordered, causing the twins to shudder.

Hermione appeared to have heard him, as she struggled in Genesis’ arms, “no! We can’t go! Ron won’t be able to find us!” 

The twins were pleased to see Sephiroth’s eyes soften. They watched him approach her as Genesis put her onto her feet. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, “it would be unwise to stay here after all of the noise that has just been made _outside_ of the enchantments you put up.”  
Hermione’s eyes filled with tears as the realisation that Sephiroth was right hit her hard.

###################

Hermione nodded, waving her wand and gathering everything up into her little bag. Sniffling, she tied her scarf to a nearby tree, resting her head on the tree she breathed a small spell into the scarf.  
“Only you, the one we no longer host, can use this scarf to find me, me whom to you am now no more than a ghost.”  
Returning to Other and the boys, she picked up their Portkey and disappeared from the lakeside. 

When they reappeared it was a cliff side, with a small forest to their rear and a much larger forest below them.  
Hermione broke off from the group to start the enchantments.  
“Don’t bother, Hermione.” Brother’s voice found her ears. Frowning, Hermione turned to say something when she saw them all stood by a door.  
“Come, you need to get away from this world for a while.”

Hermione turned to face the door, before nodding and walking up to Harry, where she hooked her arm through his, completely passing Genesis by.

#####################

He wasn’t upset that she had just passed by him without so much as a glance, her heart was injured, he understood.  
Sephiroth and Angeal sat with him in the apartment as the witch and wizard slept on the sofa, a blanket had been placed over them for warmth.  
“Do you think Other and Brother managed to find a way to contact their parents?” Angeal asked softly.

“Truthfully, I don’t think that’s what they’ve gone to do.” Genesis answered. Seeing the looks he received from that answer, he elaborated.  
“They refused to listen to their parents when they came down to Hermione and I. Meaning that they will not contact them for fear of their parents bringing them back.”

“So why lie?” Sephiroth asked.

“Most likely to put their,” he indicated to the sleeping teens, “minds at ease.”

“Any theory as to where they’ve actually gone?” Angeal asked.

Genesis hummed in thought. “I honestly couldn’t say.”

#################################

Brother held up his sister as she, once again, doubled over in pain. “Sister, what can I do to ease your pain?”

Other gasped and winced, shaking her head. “I do not even know what this is! *Cough!* *Cough, cough!*. Whatever it is, I can feel it subsiding a little. I should be able to continue to hide it from the others. That way I do not worry Hermione.”

“But in the meantime, you worry me?” Brother joked, his beloved Sister chuckled.

“Such is my nature, Brother Dearest. Come we must go back, urgh!” As she had begun to walk out of their little pocket dimension hideaway, Other had doubled over again, causing Brother to both sigh and worry his bottom lip as he helped her out of the bubble.

_Please, Mother, Father, help us through this._


	11. A Moment of Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which an impromptu date in in order

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at writing fluff or erotic stuff lol, but here is a little slice of fluffyness for you.

Genesis wandered through the streets of LOVELESS Avenue, looking for two presents for Harry and Hermione. He knew that they would like anything he got for them, but he wanted them to be special.  
Spying an antique shop he decided the see what they had in there. Wandering in, he came across the perfect gift for Harry, it also doubled as a gift for Ron should he ever returned to them. It was an ornamental egg, red, gold and bronze on a bone white egg. It was split down the middle, intended for two people; a joint present.  
He gently took it from the shelf and carried it under his arm as he continued his search. Finally, he found something for his Hermione. He allowed himself a small chuckle as he picked it up; it was a golden flower.   
“I’ll take these please, also how much extra would it be for gift wrapping?” Genesis asked the store clerk.

“It’ll be a further 30gil, Commander.” She said taking his gil and wrapping the presents for him before boxing them and handing them back to him. “Please have a good day, Commander.”

“Thank you, I shall.” Genesis left the shop to be greeted by Brother. “Perfect timing, here, take this one.” He handed Brother the egg.

“Hahah, I’m a deity, not a pack horse.” He joked.

“Should have thought about that before you defied your parents.” Genesis threw back; the two chuckled as they walked back to the apartment.  
Entering the apartment, the two took note that Angeal and Sephiroth had not come back from work yet.  
“Guess I’ll make a start on dinner.” Genesis mused, heading for the kitchen. “Or not. Hello, my Golden Flower.” He greeted the standing form of Hermione who was at the stove boiling water.

Hermione didn’t answer him. “She’s been like that since you left.” Harry explained as he and Other came and sat at the table. 

Genesis frowned, approaching the young witch; he placed a hand on her shoulder. He expected her to jump, but there was no response whatsoever.  
Concern now growing ever stronger, Genesis placed both hands on her shoulders and pulled her round to face him.  
“Hermione?” he shook her gently. Only then did she look up at him, her eyes were blank, emotionless.   
It was then he saw it, just under her shirt. “She’s wearing the locket.” He growled. “ _How_ did she get hold of it?” 

Harry shook his head. “No idea. But it would explain her behaviour, the Horcrux isn’t in the correct world, so it won’t necessarily have the same power over her as it did over-” Harry stopped.  
Genesis looked back at his Golden Flower and sighed. Reaching round, he pulled the chain from around her neck and placed it into the jar that Brother had fetched from her bag.

Genesis watched the life flow back into her hazel pools. “Welcome back.”

########################

Hermione blinked as she became aware of Genesis’ pale blue eyes watching her with concern. “What happened?” 

“You had this monstrosity around your neck.” Brother answered, showing her the jar. 

She frowned. “I don’t even remember putting it on...” she put her hand to her head.

She looked up at Genesis who smiled. “It’s over now. No need to worry. Come on, let me finish dinner.” 

Hermione nodded and went and sat down in front of the television, the news broadcasts were showing the escalating war with Wutai.   
_No matter the world, there is always war. Why can no one see the horrid price that has to be paid? Why can no one just say enough?_  
She also had to wonder just how much evil in both her world and Genesis’, Other and Brother’s parents were allowing to take place, _do they care at all for the suffering of people that worship them?_

“Of course they do.” Brother replied, causing Hermione to jump. “But the two of them cannot be everywhere at once, can they?” he sat down and cocked his head toward her, a gentle smile gracing his face.

She smiled. “No, I suppose not. I’m sorry, Brother. I didn’t mean to doubt them.” 

“It’s okay, you’re only human.” Brother patted her shoulder before returning to his sister, giving her a concerned frown.  
“Anyway, after dinner Genesis has something he wants to say to you both.”

*************

It turned out that what Genesis had to say was something that shocked the witch and the wizard. “The two of you are not going back to that world for a little while longer than Brother and Other usually mandate.” Taking a sip of the coffee in his hand, he looked over at the two.  
“Sephiroth, Angeal and I think it would be for the best if the two of you take a break from your war and enjoy some form of freedom here, in Midgar.   
We would have made this offer even if you were not one person short.” Genesis took note that Hermione had looked away from him when Ron was mentioned, even though Genesis had not mentioned him by name.  
“So, don’t think we’re doing this just because he’s not here. Although the three of us do still have to work, we will be spending as much of our free time with you as we can...”

“So you can keep an eye on us?” Hermione muttered darkly.

Genesis gave a dark chuckle of his own, letting his Golden Flower vent. “Yes. That is exactly what we’re doing.” 

“We _are_ old enough to look after ourselves, you know.” She replied. Genesis saw Sephiroth and Angeal take tentative steps back, Harry had also moved, but he had gone over to look out of the window. “We don’t need babysitters.”

“I am aware of your ages.” Genesis continued to smirk, he was going to get her to vent somehow, he just needed to push her in the right way, perhaps then she would calm down enough for him to cheer her up.   
“But the two of you are guests to this world and, with your current temper; I am concerned that you would start an unnecessary fight with the wrong kind of people. We are, after all, trying to keep the both of you on a low profile in this world.”

“My... _temper_?” There he’d done it. “You _really_ think that my _temper_ would be an issue in this world, when I have seen people give the three of you a wide birth?! _Really_ Genesis, that is the best you can do to keep us under thumb?!” As she had spoken, her volume had gone up, as did several objects, her temper was causing things to float.  
“My temper is only something that the three of _you_ need to be wary of, if that is indeed the case, _mister_ Rhapsodos.” She finished coldly. 

Not fazed by the sudden change in name, Genesis walked over to his Golden Flower and placed his hands on her shoulders. “Feel better?”

He watched Hermione blink; a momentary flash of anger crossed her face before he felt his head snap to the side; she had slapped him. “Now I do, yes.” She snapped, sitting back down. Genesis had to stop himself from laughing.

Brother was not so forward thinking and just burst out laughing. “Really, Hermione? He was only trying to help you out of the rut you are currently in.”

“ _Brother_!” Genesis snapped, sending him a warning look as Hermione turned red with anger. “You won’t be held under our thumb, Hermione.” He soothed. “You’re just going to be in our world for a little longer than normal, that’s all I wanted to tell you.”

“That’s all you could have said, then. Rather than try to get a rise out of me.” 

“I just wanted to help, that’s all. I understand you are hurting right now. But it’ll fade eventually, by that time he’ll have come back to you.” He watched her eyes snap back over to him, “he never wanted to leave you, I’m sure you both know that.” He finished.

“Doesn’t excuse what he did to Hermione.” Harry spoke up for the first time since the conversation started.

“No, you’re right, but you have to have realised by now that it was the work of our Uncle that caused him to physically harm her,” Spoke Brother, coming to Genesis’ aid. “The words were his made worse by that Horcrux, but the spell was our Uncle.” Genesis watched this sink into Hermione’s mind.

Sephiroth cleared his throat, “changing the subject here, perhaps it would be for the best if the two of you familiarise yourselves with the building for now. This way you won’t get into any trouble.” He handed them each a pass. “These give you access to VIP places usually reserved for employees. If anyone asks, you have been recruited by the Turks and are getting the layout of the building.” He explained.

“Oh and stay off of Floors 67 and 68,” Angeal piped up. “They belong to the Science Department and we _do not_ want them to get their hands on the two of you.”

“No, that we don’t,” agreed Sephiroth.

“Okay, so we can go anywhere we like, so long as we stay in the building, well everywhere except 67 and 68. That right?” Harry asked looking at the card he’d been given.

“That’s right.”

“Fair enough.” Harry yawned. “Oh crikey, guess that nap did nothing for me. I think I need to go to bed.” He gave Hermione a tender peck on the cheek. “G’night Hermione. Night guys!”

“Night Harry.” They chorused.

Angeal and Sephiroth left to go down to see the Director of SOLDIER, Other and Brother had also disappeared into their pocket universe leaving Genesis and Hermione alone.  
Clearing his throat, Genesis spoke up. “I really am sorry; I was just trying to help.”

“I know. It just hurt, what he did to me, and then the fact that he won’t find us...” Genesis stood up and wrapped his arms around the now crying woman. 

“Sshh, sshh, it’s okay. I’m sure he will find you again.” Pulling her into his chest, Genesis just rubbed her shoulder until he could no longer hear her tears, indicating that she had fallen to sleep. Gently scooping her up into his arms and carried her into the room she was sharing with Harry.   
Tucking her up, he lay a gentle kiss on her forehead before he too, went down to Lazard. The gifts he had bought lay forgotten in their bag and box in Genesis’ room.

The next morning saw Genesis waking to the sound of a sizzling frying pan.   
_Curious_ , he thought. He glanced at his clock. _Angeal and Sephiroth wouldn’t be up yet._ Getting up, he stretched and winced. His shoulder was beginning to hurt more and more as the days went by. _This had better not be a permanent thing._

**********

Other looked over at her Brother, who had gone a deathly shade of white, indicating he was in pain. She hurried over to him. “Brother? Are you alright?” she asked, helping him straighten, throwing up their little pocket dimension as she did.

Brother shook his head. “Genesis’ pain gets worse as the days pass and yet he says nothing to anyone, never lets them see.”

“Learning you were wrong! Certain as the sun, rises in the east, tale as old as time song as old as rhyme, beauty and the beast!” The two siblings stopped and looked out of their pocket dimension to see Harry and Hermione singing together.

“And he never will so long as she is near. He doesn’t want her to worry.” Other stated.

“Agreed. Come on, or else those two will notice we’re gone. I’m alright now.”

**********

Hermione continued to hum to her iPod as she continued to cook. She had deliberately encouraged Harry into singing, this way, the two would come out of the pocket dimension that they had disappeared into. _They must think I’m stupid. I can still see them_. She thought.

“There were days when the sun was so cruel, that all my tears turned to dust and I just knew my eyes were drying up forever.” She sung. Jumping slightly as Genesis wrapped his arms around her waist in a hug.

“Good morning, my Golden Flower.” 

Hermione leant into the touch. “Morning Genesis.”

“Morning Harry,” Harry giggled and held up his hands.

“Morning Genesis. I’m okay for a hug.” The two laughed as Genesis threw a tea towel at him.

“Oh! I forgot, yesterday I had bought you both something.” Hermione watched him hurry back into his room before coming back out with a box and a bag.  
“The box is for you, Harry. It also doubles as a gift for Ron when he comes back, you’ll see what I mean when you see it.”  
Genesis turned to Hermione and handed her the small bag. “For you.”

Hermione handed the spatula to Genesis as she and Harry sat down to open their gifts. “Oh wow!” she held up a delicate golden flower, it was light but she knew it was solid gold, “Genesis, this is beautiful.” The little flower was decorated with tiny diamond stones to represent dew drops on the petal, she pinned it to her jumper and beamed up at Genesis, feeling happier that she had yesterday.  
Looking at Harry she noticed he had yet to open his. Upon noticing Hermione looking at him, he smiled and opened his.   
It was a porcelain egg red, gold and bronze patterns weaving in and out of it with a golden seal down the middle; it came apart.

“Yours is designed to be a two-way gift.” Genesis explained, both Hermione and Harry understood.

Hermione turned back to her jumper as Harry got to his feet and hugged Genesis. “Thank you. You didn’t have to.”

“I know, I just wanted you two to feel a little better, that’s all.” She saw Genesis return the hug out of the corner of her eye, before hearing him clear his throat. “Now for a bribe. If you have no objections, Harry-”

“Just take her, Genesis. I know you’ve been itching to take her out somewhere since we got here.” Hermione giggled at the flush in Genesis’ cheeks at being caught out.

“Hahah, let me get changed and we’ll sneak away before Sephiroth and Angeal come back.” She hurried over to her little beaded bag only to find Other holding an outfit for her.

“Here you go.” She looked sad about something.

“Are you okay?” she asked as she started to change. Other sat on the end of the bed and heaved a sigh.

“Not really, no. But I will survive.” Hermione looked at her.

“You miss home, don’t you?”   
Other looked over at her and nodded.  
Now dressed, Hermione wrapped Other in a tight hug. “So do I.” that was all she needed to say. 

The two women sat there in silence for a minute or two before Other stood up suddenly, “enough about me. Go on and enjoy yourself, shine as you always do and have fun!” 

Giggling Hermione rushed out into the living space and hurried over to Genesis, shouting a “see you later!” in Harry’s direction.

Hermione and Genesis hit the streets of LOVELESS Avenue where there were clubs with music blaring and food stalls with all kinds of delicious aromas.  
Genesis seemed to be ignoring all of these things as he steered them over to a theatre, once there he paid for two tickets to a show that Hermione had never heard of.  
“I’m not just a LOVELESS fanatic, I love all kinds of theatre, this one is a musical. I’ve already had Other put the music onto your music player.” He explained, leading the way over to their seats.

“What’s the musical called?” Hermione didn’t have chance to see the posters outside before being pulled in by Genesis.

“It’s called Love Never Dies.” He replied, they were sat in a box set facing the stage’s left side; good seats.

“Welcome each and every one to our festival of fun…” the opening began, taking the two by surprise as they sat in silence and watched.  
Come the interval Hermione was hooked. Looking over at Genesis she watched him get up. 

“Wait here a moment, I just want to get something.”   
He vanished, leaving her alone to watch the crowd. _This is an incredible atmosphere; I can’t believe that he has done all of this just for me._

“Having fun?” Hermione jumped, seeing Other take Genesis’ seat. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gone before he comes back.”

Hermione chuckled. “I’m having a blast!”

Other turned solemn. “I’m sorry to have to bring this up, but…”

“He’s not even in my head right now.” She quickly replied. That was only half true, Ron was on her mind, just not right now; she was enjoying the moment of peace with her Crimson Angel.

Other smiled at her. “Fair enough, I think I know enough for the time being. Ow!” Other jolted as a packet of bon bons hit the back of her head.

“I’m going to tell you the same as I have just told your sibling, shoo!” laughing to themselves, Hermione hugged Other before she vanished.

She watched Genesis sit back down shaking his head. “Honestly, those two. Anyone would think they were spying on us!” 

Hermione laughed at him and opened the bon bons.  
The musical continued for a little while longer and when the finale came, Hermione found herself in tears.  
She jumped when Genesis pulled her to her feet and embraced her before they joined in with the rapturous applause.

Exiting the theatre arm in arm they were chatting away animatedly when Hermione became distracted with the food stalls that had appeared, _they must have a night time and daytime rota_ she thought.  
Genesis must have caught her look of curiosity as he pulled her over to the food stalls and paid for two samples of each individual food item for them both to try, some were spicy, some were sweet, some were salty and some were sour, all of them were edible at least so Hermione didn’t really complain, though she preferred the sweet foods.  
Genesis seemed to prefer the noodle-based food whilst Hermione liked the sushi looking foods, so Genesis bought from the oriental stalls and they went to find themselves a patch of grass to eat in the darkening park.  
“Oh my god, it’s Commander Rhapsodos!!” squealed three teenage girls who pointed in their direction and began a loud whispered argument about whether or not they were to go up to him or not.  
Hermione looked over to see Genesis just eating his noodles, he could hear them, she knew that, but why was this bothering _her_ more than him?  
“You go!!” one of the girls was pushed none too gently by her friends to approach the pair. Only now did Genesis look up from his noodles, he spied the young girl, she was looking between Hermione and Genesis, almost like she was gauging their relationship.

“Can we help you, miss?” Genesis asked, his voice was calm, Hermione looked at his eyes – or what she could see of them – to find them gentle. 

“U-um… w-we-well you see, my friends made me come over here, I really didn’t want to disturb you whilst you were eating, Commander, it-it’s just… oh!” Genesis got to his feet and wrapped his arm around the poor girl’s shoulders.

“Hermione be a dear and take this lovely polite young lady’s phone. That way she can have a good picture.”  
Genesis tipped her a wink.  
Chuckling to herself, Hermione did as instructed and took the best shot of the two, once done, Genesis took out of piece of paper. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Gemma, sir. Gemma Harrogate.”

Hermione watched as Genesis finished whatever he was writing and handed it to Gemma. “There you go. Now, as for your so-called friends, you had the courtesy to tell them that we were busy, for that you are the only one that gets these, your friends do not. Tell them, from me, that if they wish for something, they only have to ask. But not tonight, for you see, I’m on a date.”

Gemma’s eyes bugged, “oh my gosh, I am _so_ sorry!” She turned to Hermione.

Hermione just shrugged. “He said it was okay, just don’t go letting those girls bully you into giving either of those gifts to them, understand?”

Gemma nodded. “I will, thank you, oh! And enjoy your night.” With a smile and a wave, she was off back to her friends. 

Hermione watched them go with an amused look on her face as Gemma stuck her nose up dramatically and walked away. “What a strange world this is.” She mused as she sat back down to finish her sushi.

“That’s the downfall to dating a celebrity, I guess.” Genesis replied.

“Celebrity? You?” Hermione joked.

“Hey!” Hermione burst out laughing. “Oh that’s it, missy! You’re getting tickled!”

“Oh no, Genesis, NO! AH! Hahah!” Hermione was pinned to the grass and tickled to the point where she couldn’t breathe from all the laughing she was doing.  
With Genesis leaning down on her like he was, Hermione felt a rush of something she’d never felt before; she felt lust.  
Genesis must have picked up on it too, because his eyes filled with that same lust, he leant down and kissed her hard, her wrists were still pinned to the ground, but she didn’t care, she had never tasted heaven before, but she was certain this was it!  
She felt his lips leave hers as she gasped for air, his mouth wandering down her neck.  
There was a sudden change in the air, Hermione opened her eyes, “Genesis stop!” he pulled back and looked at her puzzled.

“I-I’m sorry, Hermione I didn’t-” he was cut off.

“No, that’s not what I asked you to stop for,” pushing herself up, she got to her feet and looked around her. “Something’s off.”

Genesis, too, got to his feet and looked around. “Your magic can pick up on things that I cannot, remember? Maybe you’re just sensing something from your home world?”

“No,” Hermione answered, shaking her head. “That’s not it. There is definitely something wrong in this part of town.”

She heard Genesis move around her, obviously listening for anything out of the ordinary. “I hear nothing, my Golden Flower-”

**THOOM! BRRRKKKK!**

Hermione felt herself shoved to the ground as Genesis dove for her, shielding her from the debris that was now showering around them. She heard him grunt and felt him jolt forward, almost as if a piece had hit him.  
Reaching for her wand she snapped “protego!” Genesis let go of her and sat clutching his side, there was a medium sized piece of shrapnel embedded in his side, it would have gone straight through her had he not have been covering her.  
“Hold still, let me see.” She lifted his torn shirt and gave a trial tug causing him to wince. “Sorry. Grit your teeth, I’m going to pull it out fast and then close the wound.” She waited to see him nod before steeling herself for the task at hand.  
“Okay, on three.” She saw him nod again, “one.” She pulled the metal out before Genesis registered the thought.

“Ahh!” he gave a low cry as Hermione placed her hand flush against the wound and hummed her healing song and closed the wound. “Urgh, thank you. Where were you when we needed you on the battlefield?” he joked as the barrier dropped and the two of them got to their feet.

Hermione chuckled, before another explosion separated the two of them. “Bullseye!” she heard someone cry.  
Suddenly she was hauled to her feet and dragged away. Instinct kicked in and she threw out a ring of ice, only for it to be blocked, _they blocked it?! Who are these people?_ Whoever they were, they were prepared for her. She screamed in frustration as they continued to pull her back.

“Get off me!” she cried, she made to reach for her wand, only for it to be snatched and thrown away. _No, I can’t lose that_ here _!_ She thought as her hands were bound and a gag was put over her mouth.

**********

Genesis was thrown back when the second explosion separated him from his Flower. _No! Hermione, where are you?!_ He was quick to his feet, but found a barrage of bullets coming his way, keeping him from finding her.  
He heard the distinct sound of her screaming, they’d come for her? _What is going on?!_ He didn’t have time to contemplate the plot, however, as seven heavily armed men surrounded him. “Hold on, my Golden Flower, I’m coming,” he turned his attention to the group. “But first a little sadism.”

He was just finishing up when he heard more footsteps, swinging round he clashed blades with the Buster Sword. “Angeal, Sephiroth, Harry, Brother!” 

“Genesis! Where’s Hermione?!” Harry asked, looking around wildly.

“They’ve taken her!” He looked at Angeal and Sephiroth, “AVALANCHE, they’ve taken Hermione, I don’t know why.”  
Harry looked confused so Genesis elaborated. “They’re what you would call freedom fighters.”  
“We need to find them, there’s no telling what they’ll do to her, especially if they find out that she can use magic without materia.”

“We’ll get the Turks to find her, don’t worry.” Sephiroth placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“No! No Turks, we need to find her on our own.” Brother spoke up, the others looked at him.

“Why?” Harry asked.

“Hermione is only known to one Turk, not all of them. To ask for their assistance would be to make her known to the ShinRa company-”

“-and that’s not what we want.” Sephiroth finished, nodding in agreement. “Very well, I trust you know where she is now?”

Brother shook his head. “I only know that she’s in transit, my sister is trying to either bring them off the road or force them somewhere you three will know. All we can do now is wait until she brings the truck to a stop one way or another.”

Genesis ran a frustrated hand through her hair. Looking down at the floor he noticed a slender piece of wood lying there, stooping to pick it up, he recognised it, _Hermione’s wand. Other, please find her!_

**********

Hermione had been thrown unceremoniously into a truck, kicking out at one of her captors, she found him laughing at her. “Rather pathetic, aren’t you pretty bird?” Suddenly the truck jolted, Hermione as able to get to her knees, using a muggle trick her had been practising since last year, Hermione somehow managed to get her arms around her knees to her chest, choosing to take out the thug before she undid the cuffs. _This should be fun._ She thought grimly.

“How the hell?!” the thug managed to stop her attempt with another barrier materia, “we were told you were a pushover!” 

“Looks like you were ill-informed!” She aimed a punch at his face, breaking his concentration on the materia and sending them both crashing to the bed of the truck. 

“Get the gun and sedate her! The boss wants her _alive_!” she heard the driver shout, “shit, where the hell are these things _coming_ from?!”

**********

Other pulled on her bow, releasing another bolt of electricity at the truck, her eyes focused, keeping the truck in her sights.  
“Need some help, sister?” 

She didn’t even lose her concentration at her brother’s sudden appearance. “I could do with someone on the other side, I’m going to drive them into the ditch about 300 metres that way.” she cocked her head to the right, firing another arrow.

“On it.” She felt him go, before becoming aware of another presence behind her, there was another truck?

Other’s second sight kicked in as she and Brother shared their vison with one another, now she could see his attacks and he could see hers.  
“There’s another truck heading this way,” she informed, “I think it is coming for Hermione.”

“Then let us reclaim our friend before they get here!” Pulling together, the siblings steered the truck towards the ditch.

***************

Hermione saw the thug move towards a rifle, _I don’t think so!_ She aimed a bolt of electricity at him, frying the gun, but also knocking the driver out, sending the truck crashing into a ditch.

***************

Other and Brother raced to the truck, but a hail of bullets sent them diving for cover. Since they were no longer welcome at home, they could not simply let the bullets phase through them; they were vulnerable.

“Hermione, can you hear me?!” Other called.

“Oh, she can hear you, alright, yer little bitch!” a voice growled, turning to face the voice, Other saw that the thug who had been in the back with Hermione now had her by gun point. “Yer goin’ to let us get into that truck,” he inclined his head towards the now parked truck as seven men now had their weapons pointed at the twins.

There was a sudden flash of light and a silver stag appeared in the centre of the chaos. “Hello! Goodbye!” it was Harry’s voice through the Patronus. 

The thugs all cocked their heads as Other and Brother ducked under a tree root. There was a crash and a crackle, “Sectum Sempra!” Harry’s voice echoed, followed by a gurgle, followed by Hermione suddenly appearing beside them. There were three war cries as Other took a peek over the tree root to see Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal sending bolts of electricity through the remaining thugs, causing severe burns.   
Only one remained alive.

***************

Genesis looked over to see Other peering over the tree roots, also catching his eyes was someone trying to crawl away. _Well, well. One survives._

Harry stopped the thug in his tracks, Angeal stepped onto his back, Sephiroth lifted his head. “Who sent you after the girl?” he growled.  
Genesis turned to see said girl being released from her bonds by Brother and handed her wand by Other before the three made their way over to him; she was unharmed.  
“Who sent you?” Sephiroth repeated.

“Go to hell!” the thug spat in Sephiroth’s face.

Seeing the look now in his friend’s eyes, Genesis was surprised to see Hermione step forward.  
“Crucio.” She snapped.

“Hermione, no!” Harry called out too late, the thug began to writhe in pain, screams erupting in bursts.

“My friend asked you a question.” Her voice actually dipped to a predatory purr. “Who sent you after me?” 

“Ah! I-it was an in-inside job!” he cried. “One of our sp-spies told u-us about -y-y-you! Oh Gaia, please make it stop!” he continued to cry out in pain. To Genesis, Hermione seemed almost Turk-like in her cruelty.

Seeing movement from Sephiroth, Genesis watched as he placed a hand on her wand-hand. “That’s enough, Hermione. We have enough to make an informal investigation. That way no one needs to know about this.”

Hermione’s eyes seemed to flicker in anger for a moment before she took a deep breath and conceded. “Thank you, Sephiroth.”

“Other,” Genesis spoke, “will you please take your brother, Harry and Hermione away from here. We’ll deal with him.” Watching Other nod, he was surprised to see Hermione walk up to him.

He was even more surprised to find her pulling him down and kissing him hard. “Thank you for coming for me.” She turned to the rest of the group, “all of you.”   
Pecking the other two on the cheek, she turned to face Other. Hooking her arms around Other and Harry, she followed Brother to the truck that the SOLDIERs had apparently commandeered.  
Chuckling to himself, Genesis then turned dangerous eyes to the survivor. “Now that they’re out of the way,” he turned to Sephiroth and Angeal, “what say the two of you to a little more sadism?” 

Equally sadistic grins were his answer, the survivor paled. “Oh shit…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you're enjoying this everyone! I'm sorry if everyone seems a little out of character, but I need to flesh some stuff out before the really juicy stuff happens.   
> I mean, the HP saga is 7 books long after all and I'm writing one book and an entire gaming compilation lol


	12. Secrets Between Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we are introduced to Uncle and learn more about Mother Gaia, herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a lot of brain power to find ways to make this place somewhere you can imagine in your mind's eyes.
> 
> Oh well. Enjoy peeps!!

Mother Gaia, that is what they called her, she was only a girl when she fell for the God of another world.  
When the two became one they created a space between the two worlds of Earth and Gaia where the ethereal beings could live and still watch over their respective worlds. Only one being did not agree with her joining with her Husband.

Mother Gaia wandered into the aptly named Garden of Worlds, it was a beautiful place, with its pergolas – vines winding their way around the legs of the structure, their flowers of various shades of pinks and yellow shining in the bright sunlight – the gravel pathway through the pergola that led to the world under her gaze taking her past beds of tulips of varying colours – pinks, yellows, reds, white – and blue bells, snow drops and lupins, hyacinths and hydrangeas all joined together basking in the warmth alongside wispy willow trees, strong oaks and several cherry blossom trees.   
Finding her little greenhouse, she entered and stopped to look around. Walkways surrounded large grasses and bamboo, honeysuckle and pansies joined more lupins around the edging of a perfectly manicured square of lawn, walking onto this lawn Mother gazed at the now fully open window that led to Gaia at the centre of the lawn.  
She gazed down in time to see her children leaving with the girl from Earth and her friend. 

_“Do either of you two know how to drive?”_ The girl – Hermione – asked, this was greeted by two embarrassed chuckles and one fond chuckle from Mother.

“Oh dear, what am I to do with the two of you.” She mused.

_“What are we going to do with you four?”_ The voice of Genesis Rhapsodos sounded beneath Mother’s view. _“Come one, get in.”_ Everyone was chuckling to themselves as the truck drove off.

“Well met, sweet sister.”   
Gasping in shock, Mother turned to see the only family she had left; her brother.

“What are you doing here? How did you get in here?” she demanded, reaching for her own bow and quiver.

Uncle raised his arms. “Be at peace, sister dear. I mean no ill will. I simply wished to see your face for the first time in over 2 millennia.”

Relaxing, Mother sat down on the stone bench behind her. “Has it really been that long?” She invited him to sit beside her. She was not afraid, not of him. She knew he was no liar, not to her at least. Why she had reached for her bow in the first place was beyond her.

“Indeed. When last we were together the Cetra had locked away the calamity, JENOVA leaving the world in a disarray, unbelieving and barbaric.” Mother looked her brother in the eyes, his platinum blonde hair so much like her own, his skin had darkened from the years of living in the mortal realm of Gaia.   
Scars had now formed as a lasting memory of a fight between him and her Husband, she sported one of her own as she had intercepted the killing blow her Husband had dealt to her brother, insisting that banishment would be better than death.

It had been a fight that had started after her Husband had lost his sister to the mortal man on the world that he watched over, Uncle and herself and been uniting two souls from both Cetra and human races and had succeeded, but it had meant JENOVA almost gained control over Gaia, threatening her life.  
Though Uncle sacrificed part of his own divinity to save his sister, it had left her weak, almost human. Her husband had been livid, the trauma of losing his sister returning with a vengeance as did his temper. 

The worlds that she and her Husband presided over suffered almost apocalyptic changes to their appearances, their sordid pasts almost forgotten, save for records and hieroglyph, the legends of JENOVA on Mother’s world and Anthony and Cleopatra on Father’s world fell into just that, legend.  
Uncle was forever scarred and – to Mother’s despair – no longer welcome in the Realm Between. He was, therefore, banished to wander both of the worlds for the remainder of his long life.   
Argument after argument and Mother had never received her wish; to have her brother back beside her.  
So how was he here now?

“How were you able to return here?” Mother asked.

Uncle turned away, “not without risk, I can assure you.”

Mother blinked. “You collided the two worlds of Earth and Gaia to come here? Why?” 

Uncle gave a sad chuckle, “to fulfil the only wish in my heart.” Uncle took his sister’s hands, “to return to you, Sister Dear.”  
Mother felt tears well up. “I understand that living with _Him_ must have been hard on you, that you have come to see things the way he does, that I am an irredeemable wretch who only wishes to harm.” She watched him let go of her hands and stand. “Though I am a wretch, my only crime is that I protected you from something that should have killed you.” He turned back to face her.  
“I will not lie to you, Sister Dear, yes, I have a darker intent with both the Witch and the Crimson Commander, but it is simply to restore order to both of the worlds that you love so dearly.”

Mother frowned, “you speak as though you are not the villain of this endeavour. Both the Witch and the Crimson Commander are going to _suffer_ at your hands -”

“- quite the contrary, Sister Dear.” Uncle interrupted. “They are already suffering, one from a growing darkness, the other from the degradation of his cells. But I ask you, who was it that locked the door after your Son and Daughter left to stand beside their chosen champions?” 

Mother let out a small noise in surprise. “Was it not you?”

Uncle shook his head, “no. I would _never_ wish the fate that befell me on _your_ children.”

Frowning Mother took note of his accentuations. “My children? You do not speak of my Husband in that sentence, do you Brother of Mine?”

“No,” his eyes darkened, “I do not. That creature has no intention of allowing them back here, he has even placed a curse on the two of them.”

“What?!” 

“Look down here with me, please.” Her Brother invited her to the window.

Looking down she saw no difference, “I see nothing.”

“Look closer at your Son. See how he emulates his champion?” Looking closer, Mother saw that Uncle was correct, the two had suddenly gone a deathly shade of white, her Son reached out to his sister who squeezed his hand back in return.

_“Genesis? Are you alright?” _Hermione had also noticed Genesis’ rigidness.__

___“I’m aright, just a pain shot up through my spine that’s all.”_ He reassured._ _

___“You haven’t suffered with that for a while, Genesis.”_ Spoke Angeal, who was driving._ _

__“Did you notice?” Uncle asked, pulling them both away._ _

__“Yes, Hermione noticed Genesis’s plight only when my Daughter noticed her Brother’s.”_ _

__“Precisely. You see, the curse I speak of has bound your Son and Daughter to their chosen champions, whatever the champions feel or have happen to them will also happen to them. Only the bad things, however, it is designed to be a punishment, after all.”_ _

__Mother turned her back from her brother and returned to the seat, her beautiful face becoming twisted as she began to openly sob. “Why? Why would he do this?”_ _

__She felt arms wrap around her shoulders, leaning into the embrace, Mother sobbed into her Brother’s chest. “He views them only as something that – when disobedient – is expendable.  
He knows that the two of you can have more, he may perhaps believe the next ones to be more obedient.”_ _

__Mother frowned at these words. “Expendable? They are my _children_!” She stood up fast, “they are neither expendable nor replaceable! They do no more than what you and I and he and his sister had done two millennia ago!”_ _

__Uncle got to his feet, “which is why I am here. The Books of Life that my Niece and Nephew found, they had been kept separate, the two worlds closed and divided, because your Husband wished to keep these two souls apart. You and I both know that two souls who are meant to be together _must_ be together.”_ _

__“There is no guarantee of that, the girl has another love interest.” She argued._ _

__“True, but the decision has _never_ been hers to make, whether she will love Genesis Rhapsodos or loath him, she must live in the world that he belongs to rather than her own. Your Husband knows this, which is why he gave her the other love interest.”_ _

__“Which is why you had the poor boy harm her?” Mother inquired, she could not be hearing that her Husband was the villain here, she knew it had to be her brother._ _

__“No, the boy harmed her because he had been wearing the Horcrux, I was merely trying to prevent him _killing_ her as your Husband intended.”   
This stopped any further argument from Mother._ _

__She remembered that day, clearly. Her Husband had gone to check on the state of Gaia in her stead, but no sooner had he left, the boy began acting strangely.  
“This cannot be… you…”_ _

__Uncle came and wiped a stray tear from his sister’s face. “I am the villain, that much is true, but not to you. Your children are my enemy until they see things the way you now can. They are too much like him, Sister of Mine.”_ _

__“What will you do to them?”_ _

__“Nothing. They are, as I have said, _your_ children. They can stand against me, but no harm shall come to them from me.” She watched her brother’s eyes turn serious.  
“There is, however, one thing _you_ can do for me.”_ _

__Mother smiled, “now how did I know that you would somehow drag me into this?”_ _

__The two shared a chuckle. “You must remain silent by his side until such a time as Hermione Granger must choose. The choice she makes will not be when battles have ceased, her choice will have been made long before then. I ask that you allow things to flow naturally once she has made her choice.  
I also ask that, once the fires of Genesis’ fight have been extinguished and he comes to you, you deny him. Let him slumber.   
In his stead _you_ must walk through the world, healing any and all who come to you, answering the cries of children, doing what you do best. By then your children will have changed beyond recognition, but you _must_ find them. Only then will his hold over both you and Gaia be lost. Only then will they live in peace.”_ _

__“You wish for me to treat you as a villain until then?” she asked, not fully understanding the reasoning, what could her brother gain from this?_ _

__“Yes, this way your Husband will never know.”_ _

__“What will you gain from all of this, Brother of Mine?”_ _

__“A happy ending.” This startled Mother as she watched her brother fade away back to the world from which he had come. “Remember, it’s our little secret.”_ _

__Mother blinked before returning to the window. She could see the seven were now back in safety, but they now needed to part ways with her Daughter, Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.  
Watching them disappear through the door, Mother waited, holding her breath as Genesis rolled his shoulder and announced that he was going down to see Professor Kancheewa.  
“I shall do as you ask, Brother of Mine, but first I must see if what you say is the truth.”_ _

__To do that, however, she must first find the right items. _The tomes I seek are hidden away deep within the library, I never questioned why I was to never venture there, but now I must.__ _

__Turning down hall after hall, Mother found herself in the hall of records, where the books of every person on every world that she and her Husband watched over were stored.  
Down a set of stairs, deep under the ground however, was a door that held the records of the ethereal beings themselves. Her very own diary was kept down here, filling each day as she lived it, _I must remember to pick up my own record on the way out otherwise this little game you have started Brother of Mine will have ended before it has begun._ She thought as she opened the door.  
Wandering through the tomes of ethereal beings that came before her, she soon found what she had been looking for; her Husband’s Book of Life.  
Waving her hand over the book, she thought of what she wanted to know.  
 _I wish to know if you are the true villain in this, or if I am indeed just a pawn of my Brother’s lies.__ _

__Finding the page she had to start from, she read in wonder. That wonder soon turned to shock, from shock to complete horror and from horror to despair. “I was just a tool for you after all. You never truly loved me or our children.” Pulling her thoughts together, she shut the book and tucked it under her arm, “there is clearly more about you than I first thought.” Walking out, she also took her own book out of the vault and sealed it up again._ _

__

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__Uncle shivered, she had done as he had anticipated, now all of the pieces were on the board, they now just needed to be placed. “Doing this from two worlds is a difficult endeavour, I shall have to await the proper time before placing them. Now Sister Dear, we must play the waiting game.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, this was the only way I could think of to keep the story going when I initially typed this up, so I hope everyone enjoys it!!
> 
> A comparatively small chapter compared to the others but what can you do?


	13. Hollow Graves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we arrive at Godric's Hollow and the siblings realise the consequences of their disobedience.

Genesis bade goodnight to the other two as he and Brother headed for the residence of the Kancheewa family.  
“The two that live here are the only scientists that are trustworthy, if you don’t want something to get back to the heads of the department then it goes no further than those two.” He explained as the two of them approached the door.

Knocking, Genesis and Brother waited patiently. “Oh, Genesis!” the male voice of Doctor Eriol Kancheewa sounded from behind them.

“Good evening, Doctor Kancheewa. I apologise for my being here uninvited, but I was wondering if Professor Kancheewa or yourself could take a look at my shoulder.”  
Genesis watched as Doctor Kancheewa’s eyes darkened. Had he said something wrong?

As quickly as it had appeared, however, the darkness vanished. “Come on in, I’ll take a look for you until Sakura comes home.” Eriol opened his door and invited them in.

“Daddy! You’re home!” a young voice sounded up the stairs as two small children came rushing down the stairs, running straight through Brother who had gone invisible around strangers, and into the waiting arms of their father.

“Oof hello, you two! Tari?” he called.

“Coming!” a third child came down the stairs, this one was around eleven years old with red hair and striking green eyes. _So this is the girl that Hojo and Hollander are trying to get the Kancheewas to hand over._ Genesis thought as he took a seat in the kitchen.

Though the Kancheewa family were a well-liked family, the parents were both intelligent and dangerous, _very_ dangerous. Genesis, himself, had once seen Eriol cut off the head of one of his understudies when they had made a ‘family oath’ and broke it.   
Genesis had been so shocked at the display of violence that he never took the pinkie finger of a Kancheewa.  
“Alright, Pup. This is Commander Genesis Rhapsodos, a SOLDIER 1st Class, he is the third in command of the army I took you to see yesterday.” Eriol explained as he set the kettle to boil. “He’s got a small problem with his shoulder, be a gem and fetch the medical kit for me.”   
Nodding, the eldest child disappeared.   
Genesis shifter nervously, “calm down, Commander, I’m not Hollander.” Eriol spoke, turning to him. “Tea or coffee?” 

“Coffee, please.” Genesis looked at the door to see Brother stood looking pained. Frowning Genesis forgot where he was and asked, “are you alright?” 

“Yes, I am quite well, thank you.” Jumping as Eriol answered Genesis made a noise. “How about you? No fever or hallucinations?”

_*Not unless you count me!*_ Brother joked, causing a small smirk to grace Genesis’ face.

“Not that I’m aware of, no. Although, I did black out a few months ago when the pain in my shoulder started.” Genesis explained, taking the cup of coffee.

“Got it dad,” Tari came back into the kitchen carrying the box. “Oh and mum’s home.”

“Mummy!” Right on cue two little voices and the laughter of an older woman sounded in the entrance.

“Thanks, pup, you can go now, your mother can help.” Eriol turned back to the counter and held out another steaming cup as Sakura Kancheewa walked into the kitchen, stalling as she laid eyes on Genesis.  
“Welcome home, love.” He greeted bringing his wife out of her shock. “We have a patient.”

Sakura nodded, took a tentative sip from her mug and placed it onto the counter. “Very well, hello again, Genesis.” She greeted, smiling that reassuring smile that melted even Sephiroth’s fears. 

“Hello again, Professor, I apologise for intruding-” Genesis was cut off with a sharp pain racing through his shoulder. “Sweet _Goddess_ of mercy that smarts!” he hissed. 

“Take off your top layers.” Sakura spoke.

Doing as he was told he was gentle with his ailing side and grimaced, only to then stare in shock; his whole arm looked like it was losing its colour. “What. The. _Hell_?!” he looked up at the two Kancheewas, frightened. “What’s happening to me?” he whimpered, honestly, he hated feeling like this, but he had no idea what had caused this, only the VR Room accident.

Feeling a hand on his arm, Genesis looked into the green eyes of a mother. “Calm down, Genesis. It’s going to be alright.” 

Genesis shook his head. “I _want_ to believe you, but I don’t understand what’s happening to me!” 

“Alright, alright. Deep breaths, it’s just a symptom of your mutated genetic make-up.” Genesis looked up at this.

* _No…_ * he heard Brother breathe, _he knows something about this._ Genesis thought.

“My genetic… the Mako transfusion did this to me?!” panic was now beginning to rise in his heart. “But what about Angeal and Sephiroth? What about the other members of SOLDIER?!” 

Sakura closed her mouth; Genesis felt his despair turn to anger. “Tell me!!” he grabbed Sakura by the arms and pushed her up against the wall. 

“Genesis STOP!” Brother placed trembling arms on Genesis’ bare arms. “Stop.”

“Who are you?!” Eriol and Sakura spoke. 

“A child of the heavens, that is all the two of you need to know.” Brother snapped. “Come, my friend, let them tend to your shoulder, no answers will be found by force. Not from these two, not when they are gentle and pure of heart.” Brother spoke to Genesis softly, slowly bringing Genesis round to his senses.

Releasing Sakura, Genesis fell to his backside and curled his knees under his chin rocking back and forth continuously saying sorry. His mind was a whirl of activity, he couldn’t focus on anything.  
He was seeing without seeing as he watched Brother rummage through Genesis’ coat pockets until he found what he was looking for.  
“Here, Genesis, focus on this.” Brother handed him a small stone, or he thought it was a stone, but Genesis felt a sudden rush through his veins and his Golden Flower entered his sight.

“Hermione!” he called out reaching up, dropping the object in the process, she disappeared.  
Hearing a chuckle, he looked over at Brother who just nodded.

“There you are. Now, hold tight to her, lest she slip away for good.”

Scurrying around the floor in search of that object, Genesis clutched it tight and held it to his chest, taking deep breaths as he forced himself to calm down.  
Finally getting himself under control, Genesis looked up at the two Kancheewas and grimaced as he saw bruises beginning to form on Sakura’s arms. “Forgive my outburst, professor, I’m just frightened that’s all.” Getting back to his feet he then rounded on Brother, “as for you,” Brother flinched, “you know what this is don’t you?” Genesis waved his arm about.  
He watched as Brother nodded, his eyes never leaving the floor. “Why did you never tell me?”

“You are not meant to know Genesis.” It was professor Kancheewa that answered. “However, if you would like to know, there are some aspects of this that I can tell you.”

“Sakura, what about Hollander?” Eriol asked. 

“What about him? All he will do is cause more discomfort to Genesis, at least this way he can know the basics before going on a head hunt.” There was something to her words that spoke to Genesis.

“Go on a head hunt?” he asked quietly.

“I meant asking Hollander for any more information.” The good woman turned to face Genesis and invited him to sit back down. “No good will come of you knowing about any of this, but there is no point in you being kept in the dark any longer.”  
Genesis waited as Sakura and Eriol put their three children to bed before coming back down.  
Professor Kancheewa fetched a more advanced medical kit and began what her husband had yet to begin. “You are about to hear some very difficult things, Genesis. I trust that little trinket will keep you calm enough to allow me to tell you everything I can without interruption?” 

Genesis chuckled, “possibly, if not then my friend here can also be of help.”

He watched Sakura narrow her eyes and look over his shoulder, “about your friend, Genesis… exactly _how_ did he get into my house without my husband or my children knowing?”

“Oh, your children saw me,” Brother piped up, “or at least the oldest one did, she must have assumed that the two of you had also seen me.” Brother plopped himself down on the floor in front of one of the many books strewn across the floor.   
“Hmm, I assume these are your eldest child’s books? Even for an eleven-year-old she is showing signs of high intelligence.” He muttered he last part to himself.

Genesis was watching Sakura the whole time Brother was speaking, her eyes became darker. “Brother, I believe you are upsetting the good professor, here. Please be a bit more mindful of what you say and in front of whom.” He chided, catching Brother’s eye.

Brother just nodded in reply.

As time went by, Sakura tended to Genesis’ wound whilst also taking tissue and blood samples. Mumbling to herself as she went, Sakura suddenly stopped.  
“It’s called degradation.” She stated, turning to look at Genesis. “You and Angeal both have cells in your system that are prone to degrading due to the high concentration of Mako in your blood.” 

Genesis felt his blood go cold. “Our cells…? What do you mean, our blood cells?”

“You can’t tell him the whole truth, Sakura.” Eriol spoke up suddenly.

“Why not?” Sakura and Genesis asked in unison.

“Isn’t it supposed to be Hollander’s place to tell him, not yours?” 

Genesis watched this mull over in her head. Finally, she heaved a heavy sigh and gave Genesis a sorrowful look, she didn’t need to say anything, Genesis just smiled. “It’s alright, Professor. I understand your position; I shall just have to ask Hollander.”

Sakura gave a sad smile, “thank you, Genesis. At the very least, though, let me tend to this shoulder, I’ll try and ease your pain for a while.”

Genesis bid the family goodnight and wandered through the streets, Brother at his heels, until he reached LOVELESS Avenue. Reaching into his pocket, his fingers wrapped around the stone that Hermione had made for him whilst they had been at the lakeside. _I hope I get to see you again soon, my Golden Flower, you have been gone less than three hours and I miss you already._   
Genesis stopped; Brother had grabbed hold of his arm. Frowning, Genesis took him to one side. “Are you alright, my friend?”  
When Brother didn’t answer him, Genesis shook him a little only for his friend to go limp. Diving to catch him, Genesis reached into his pocket for his phone. “Sephiroth make sure the door is unlocked, Brother’s collapsed.”

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Hermione and Harry had just returned to the cliffside, this time Hermione did put up the enchantments, her thoughts of Genesis and of Ron. Yes, now that they had returned, her thoughts were once again of their missing friend. _I wonder if he went back to Hogwarts?_ It really wouldn’t have surprise her, but at the same time she knew he would be too ashamed to go back, whether he had intended to leave or not.  
They stayed in the area for a couple of days before Harry finally said something to her. “Hermione, I’ve been reading that book by Rita Skeeter, the one about Dumbledore. I want to go to Godric’s Hollow, maybe we can find something to help us destroy the Horcruxes.”

Hermione, who had been reading Tales of Beedle the Bard, looked over at Other before looking at Harry. “Really?” she didn’t mean to sound as sceptical as she did, but she knew the real reason was to find more out _about_ Dumbledore.

Harry seemed to know what she was thinking, honestly, she didn’t know what was happening to her, but even Hermione could see how much of a bitch she was starting to become. “Yes, I also want to go because that was the place _I_ used to live, I was _born_ there, Hermione.”

This didn’t surprise Hermione. Giving a sigh, she softened her gaze and nodded, “alright, I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t a little curious myself. Afterall, we may find the sword of Godric Gryffindor there too.” She closed her book and got to her feet, beginning to pack everything.

“You know how to get there?” Harry asked.

“Just about,” she replied. Picking up her little bag, she tied another scarf to the nearest tree and repeated her little spell.  
Returning to Harry and Other, she took their hands and disapparated.

Reappearing in a snowy village square, Hermione dropped their hands and dove for Other, who had suddenly dropped to her knees.  
“Are you alright?!” Hermione asked concern.

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Other couldn’t breathe, there was a foul odour in the air, she looked down the snow-laden road to find in covered in a green mist, the foul odour made her gag as she threw up.  
Hermione’s voice sounded off somewhere in the distance; she tried to focus on it but to no avail.  
Her Brother was beside in in the next instant, suffering the same.  
“I cannot breathe!” they gasped. 

Feeling something behind her, Other attempted to stand only to fall back to her knees.  
* _Oh, my children,_ * the voice of her Father sounded clearly through the mist. * _How you have disappointed your Mother and I._ *

“FATHER!” Other screamed, reaching out for the voice.

* _You shall both suffer the same pain as your Champions, as punishment for your disobedience. Never again shall either of you be welcome within our walls, not as long as your champions live._ * 

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Genesis knelt beside Brother as he lay on the sofa, Angeal and Sephiroth either side of him as the young deity twitched and called out for his Father.  
“What is going on?” he breathed as Brother began to sweat. Something caught Genesis’ eye, looking down at Brother’s left arm, he paled. His arm was now the same colour as Genesis’.  
 _How is this happening to_ him _?!_ _He isn’t enhanced…_

Looking up at Angeal and Sephiroth he steeled himself. “Will the two of you keep an eye on him, there is something I need to do.”

“Can it not wait?” Angeal asked.

Genesis shook his head, “it concerns Brother, I won’t be long.” Turning to leave he closed the door to the apartments and headed for the Science Department. He needed to talk to Hollander.

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Hermione held a shaking Other as she called out to her Father. _What is going on?!_

Suddenly Other fell limp into Hermione’s arms, her body twitching, “hang in there, my friend.” Looking up at Harry she trembled. “Help me get her over into the shadows.”   
The two wizards carried the still twitching Other over to a nearby bench. 

“What is this, Hermione?” Harry asked.

Hermione looked around, suddenly aware of how exposed they were. “I don’t know, she’s never reacted this way to apparation before.”   
She was suddenly aware of a presence behind her, turning she saw that it was a figure she had never met before, a woman.  
“Who are you?!”   
She had platinum blonde hair, her face was beautiful and yet across her collar bone there was the hint of a scar.

“Hush, child, I am here for my Daughter and then my son.” The woman approached the witch, wizard and still twitching deity, not put off by Hermione’s stance as the witch moved to protect her friend.

“Mother? Are you here to take them back?” Hermione asked nervously, taking into account the fact that this woman was still walking towards them.  
All Hermione got as an answer was a shake of the head.

Hermione stepped back beside Harry, watching as the woman waved her hand over Other before turning to the two seventeen-year olds.  
“My children will be granted their divinity so long as they do not take a mortal name, should they do so, then they will be as mortal as yourself and my son’s champion,” the woman’s eyes hardened, “know that the two of you are the cause of this.” And with that she disappeared.

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Sephiroth and Angeal had identical looks of shock on their faces when Genesis came back; he had been unsuccessful in finding Hollander, instead he had asked Hojo to inform Hollander that he needed to speak with him. Not that Genesis liked leaving a message with that psychopath.   
“What is it?”

“Some woman claiming to be Brother’s Mother had just appeared out of nowhere, she took away his pain and turned to us with a warning for you.” Genesis had come to sit beside the now sleeping deity, he looked up and over at Angeal as Sephiroth continued.

“She claimed that if he takes a mortal name, he will lose his divinity and be as mortal as you, Other too by the sounds of it. She also said that the fault was yours and Hermione’s, which I do not understand.” It was incredibly rare to see Sephiroth this riled.

Genesis looked down at Brother. “We are the reason for them disobeying their parents, as a result they are being punished.” Genesis looked between his two best friends. “Did she say anything else?”

“Only that the two were going to suffer the exact same pain as you and Hermione do, or at least I think that is what she hinted at.” Angeal answered, honestly, Genesis could see that Sephiroth and Angeal were growing concerned, he really couldn’t blame them.   
“Genesis, what is this all about?”

Sighing Genesis got to his feet, “honestly Angeal I don’t know myself. Hermione and I never asked for this.” He nervously rubbed his arm, suppressing a shudder.

The three turned as they heard Brother let out a groan. “Anyone get that Behemoth that stood on me?” the three shared a chuckle.

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Other was also waking with a groan. “Okay, who hired the Mountain Troll to hit me?” Hermione, who had been sat in the snow in front of her, shot up to her knees, Harry crouching down beside her.

“Are you okay?” 

“If you consider a headache from Hades to be okay, then yes, I am fine.” Other groaned as she sat up.  
Looking up, Other seemed to notice something. “I know this place.” She breathed.  
Getting unsteadily to her feet, Other led them over to the graveyard. “Father brought me and Brother here once, sixteen years ago, after one of the houses had been destroyed. He had said that a great evil had been temporarily put down.” Turning to the two behind her, Other looked surprised, “I guess that was the night your parents died, Harry.”

“But your Father knew he would come back, didn’t he?” Hermione asked.

Other only nodded.

The three looked through the graveyard, looking for the graves of Harry’s parents. As they looked, Hermione stopped in her tracks. * _Hermione, come to me, there is something I need to show you._ *  
Following Other’s voice, Hermione found her beside an old grave.   
Seeing what she did, Hermione called for Harry and pointed out the grave to him.  
 **Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.**  
Above the heartfelt quote where the names Kendra Dumbledore and Ariana Dumbledore. These were the graves of what Hermione knew to be Dumbledore’s mother and sister. 

It was a mellowing sight, knowing that the Dumbledores had also lived here, it made Hermione wonder if her old headmaster truly was as great of a man as they all believed, though if you asked her where such a thought had sprung from, she would be unable to tell you, it was just something in her gut.

Wandering away, Other slipped up beside her. “Forgive me, for causing you concern earlier.”

Hermione smiled, “it’s okay, I’m just sorry that Genesis and I are the reason for them turning on you.”

“You are not to blame for this, despite what my Mother says. The choice was ours and we made it alone. Oof, what did you stop for?”

Hermione regained her balance from Other walking into her and stooped to look at the gravestone in front of her. “I’ve seen this mark before,” she pulled out her copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard and opened it to the page that held a strange mark; it was – to the untrained eye – a triangular shaped eye with a thin slit for a pupil, but now Hermione was no longer sure that was what she was looking at.   
An earlier conversation between her and Harry at the campsite had her remembering that it was Harry who had told her that the mark she was looking at was the mark of Grindelwald. 

Other had stooped down beside her and was now trying to read the name on the headstone. “Ign – Ignotus… I cannot make out the rest.” She said, Hermione watched a frown fall onto her face. “Come with me, I believe I know where his parents lie.”

Following Other, Hermione soon found herself back at the Dumbledore graves, two rows behind those were lay a headstone made of white marble… “Harry, I’ve found them,” she said solemnly. “They’re here.” 

As she waited for Harry, she read the words on the stone detailing the names of the two buried here and their dates of both birth and death, beneath was another quote; **The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.**

Hermione stood still and closed her eyes willing the tears to go away as she listened to Harry crying. Raising her wand, she waved it in a circle to for a wreath of Christmas roses for Harry to take and lay on the grave.  
“Thank you.” Was all he said, not looking at her, but returning the pressure she was now putting on his hand. 

“Merry Christmas, you two.” Other spoke, causing the other two to turn. 

“Merry Christmas, Other.” They chorused. 

As they made their way back through the kissing gate, Hermione saw something out of the corner of her eye; someone was following them.  
Harry seemed to have had the same thought as he all but pulled the other two along with him past a pub, and down a dark street.

He stopped suddenly sending Hermione to her backside as she slid on the ice from the sudden stop. “Harry!” she hissed in irritation.  
Sheepishly, Harry mumbled an apology as he helped her to her feet. “What did you stop for?”   
No sooner had the words left her mouth, she knew. 

They were standing in front of a ruined house, the garden was overgrown and the grass was waist high, most of the house was still intact but the top right side was completely gone.  
 _This was where it happened_ , she thought, _this is Harry’s old house._

Suddenly Hermione felt dizzy, her head spun as she turned to face the oncoming danger. Except there was no danger, only to find an old woman shuffling towards them.

* _Something is not right with that woman, be careful._ * Other had gone invisible and silent to Harry, but not to Hermione; this was something she did when she was nervous.

Hermione and Harry followed the old lady up to the house and entered, Hermione’s dizzy feeling telling her to run, to get out as fast as she could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave a kudos and a comment if you like it!!


	14. The Secrets of Scientists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Genesis attempts to find out what's wrong with him, before deciding that he needs only one thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You would be very surprised at how little detail there is for the JENOVA project, lol it took me an hour just to find the little snippet you will see here.

_When the war of the beasts brings about the world’s end, the Goddess descends from the skies. Wings of light and dark spread afar, she guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting._

Genesis recited his beloved poem by heart in his head as Hollander took several samples of blood from him, muttering to himself.  
“Why did you go to the Kancheewas first, Genesis? You should have come straight to me.”

Genesis kept down the rising growl, “you were unavailable and it was only for pain management.”

Hollander continued to fuss over him, skin samples, amongst other samples were all taken to be analysed until he cleared Genesis fit for duty.  
As Genesis got up to leave, he decided to ask. “Professor Hollander, do you know anything about cellular degradation in SOLDIER members?”

Genesis narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Hollander dropped the clipboard he was holding, watching the man scurry to pick it up, Genesis waited.  
“Where did you hear that?”

“Answer my question, please.” Genesis was not about to tell him _that_.

“Yes, I do. It is actually what you are suffering with. But how did you know about this?” Genesis’ eyes snapped to Hojo who had come over to see what the commotion was.

“It would appear as though he wants the truth,” this man made Sephiroth uncomfortable, he made everyone uncomfortable. “What are you going to do now, Hollander.”

“Don’t you have a _patient_ , Hojo.” 

_What truth?!_ He wanted to scream, but a sudden idea hit him, he knew how he could get the information he needed.  
“It doesn’t matter, Professor, I just needed to confirm what I had heard, that was all.”  
Turning to leave, Genesis headed up to the office of Director Lazard, Genesis knew he had gone home, therefore he could tap into his computer and find the truth himself.

“Be careful, Genesis,” Brother spoke, falling into step with him. “This may not be the best way to go about this.”

“There is no other way that I can get access to the information I need.” Genesis argued.

“Well, actually there is,” Brother pulled Genesis down another corridor. “The information is down here, Sister and I snuck in here once whist you were all sleeping.”

Brother led Genesis down to the Turk archives, Genesis wasn’t happy being in here; Turks were a territorial lot.  
“In here? You’re sure?” Genesis asked as Brother came to stop in front of a large shelving unit referred to as JENOVA.

Genesis turned to see Brother’s nose wrinkled in disgust. “I am sure. The cameras will have stopped working by now, they won’t be able to get them back up until tomorrow. You have until then to find the truth. I will stay with you.”

Genesis frowned and cocked his head to the side; something was off with his wayward divine companion. “Are you alright, my friend?”

“My sister is under attack and there is nothing I can do to help her… we have been cut off from one another.” Brother looked over at Genesis, “what do I do? I can see their plight, yet I am powerless to do anything!”

Genesis blinked. “Welcome to my world, my friend.” Putting all thoughts of his Golden Flower being in danger to the back of his head, Genesis picked up volume 1 of 10 of the JENOVA project and began to read a book created by a female known only as Mrs F.

**Herein lies a written account of the creature known as JENOVA. This account is more descriptive than personal.**   
**First, I should introduce myself, I am Ifalna Gast, I am the last surviving pure-blood Cetra, an antient race long since lost to time.**   
**Approximately two thousand years ago, an alien creature landed on Gaia, having travelled through space on a meteorite that crashed into what is now known as the Norther Crater.**

“Genesis, stop reading.” Brother’s voice broke his concentration. Looking over at his friend, Genesis noticed him wiping his mouth; he had been sick.

“What is it?” putting the book back, Genesis approached his friend.

“Whatever it is you are reading; I can visualise it.” Genesis frowned so Brother went on. “When my sister and I were born, we were born already able to walk and talk, we simply stayed the ages you see us at as we found them to be more comfortable. As we grew into our divinity and subsequent powers, we began to realise that we could see the memories of one of our parents, though until now, my sister and I were unsure which one.”

“Your mother?”

“Yes. As you were reading that book, I could see JENOVA, I could see what it looked like, it was little wonder that it nearly killed my mother.”  
Brother sat down.

“So, it was hostile?” Genesis sat beside him for a moment.

Brother nodded. “Please, do not continue reading that book, I fear you will not like what you find.”   
Genesis was torn, but a longing look back towards the bookcase heard an audible sigh being heaved from Brother. “Go. Do what you must, my friend. I shall stand beside you no matter what.”

Genesis smiled and pulled the book back off of the shelf.   
**The creature appeared to approach the Cetra, using some kind of mimic ability to destroy them. No attempt to come peacefully, JENOVA caused a sickness in the Cetra that was hinted to be a genetic part of the creature itself; it mutated those that were infected, turning them to monsters.**  
Genesis heard Brother wretch again, but continued to read.  
 **JENOVA would then take on the former appearance of one of the monsters into get close to their families and loved ones, giving them the virus.**  
 **It was in this way the creature destroyed most of the Cetra civilisation whilst their daughter race – humans – hid away, safe from JENOVA.**  
 **What few surviving Cetra there were banded together to defeat the creature and quarantined it deep within the Northern Crater, where is would sleep, however, the damage was done and the Cetra race dwindled and died out, humans spread across the world and the Cetra themselves fell into legend.**  
 **Two thousand years later almost all memory of this creature had faded Until the ShinRa Electric Power Company unearthed the creature whilst searching the Northern Crater for Mako – which they now used to become the powerhouse of this world.**   
**The Cetra and the Legend of the Promised Land piqued their interest and mistakenly identified this creature as a Cetra.**

Genesis looked for the publishing date and found it only to be at least five to ten years older than Genesis himself… he shivered; something wasn’t sitting right with him.  
He stopped reading and turned to Brother, who was now looking very drained.  
“Come on, you. I will put this to the back of my mind for now. Besides I don’t think this was the book I was looking for.”

Pulling Brother to his feet, the two of them wandered back through the halls until Brother stopped and looked down the corridor to their left.  
“Genesis, what’s down this way?”

Looking to where Brother was pointing, Genesis felt himself pull a face. “That’s the science department’s research area, you _do not_ want to go down there.”  
Genesis was about to pull Brother away when he heard Hollander’s voice down the hall.  
“Hide!” he hissed, pulling himself into the air vent above him.

Genesis placed the grate back just in time for Hollander to come down the hall in a temper, with him was Sakura Kancheewa.  
“You are the _only_ other person who knows about this that Genesis would go to, Sakura.” He growled. “You have _no_ right to give Genesis information that you are denying your own children.”

“The difference being in that my children are too young to know, which is another reason why you and Hojo can keep your grubby hands off of them.” Sakura snapped back. “Genesis came to me looking for pain relief and saw the fact that his arm is – for absence of a better term – _rotting_! He panicked, what else did you expect me to do?”

Hollander got up into Sakura’s face. “Stay away from my specimens.” 

Genesis blinked. _Specimens? Is that how he thinks of me? Who else is he talking about?_

“Specimens? Ha! That’s a fine way to talk about the second and third in command to the army that you and Hojo are so proud of. Goddess, I really hope I live long enough to see my daughter make a _peaceful_ living.”   
Sakura simply walked away.

After a moment or two Hollander began talking to himself. “ _If_ you live long enough, that is. You’re too smart for your own good, wretched woman.” 

Once the coast was clear, Genesis and Brother came out of their hiding places, both looking considerably shaken. 

“That was a disturbing conversation… I think we should go, my friend. The others will soon return to the shared apartments.” Genesis led the way back to the apartments.  
An uneventful evening took place after this leaving Genesis to ponder his next move.

_I would like to see her again… maybe Brother and his sister can form some form of pathways with their bond… I shall have to ask when we have time to ourselves._

The next morning, Genesis was on his way to meet Sephiroth and Angeal for their usual morning coffee when a sudden idea hit him.   
Sending a quick message to his friends to say that he was going to be late, Genesis headed for the elevator.

“What are you doing, Genesis?” Brother looked worse for wear this morning having witnessed the plight of his sister and Genesis’ Golden Flower whilst he slept, meaning that the poor deity had gotten next to no rest at all. 

“Getting leave for a vacation, there is something I need to do… Someone I hope I get to see.” Truth be told, Genesis just couldn’t get his Golden Flower out of his head, her presence was enough to keep his morbid theories out of his head.  
Walking into the Directors office, he saw Hollander already there.  
“Director Lazard, I would like to place a notice of recreational leave – Professor Hollander – you see, I have not been entirely honest with you and am not quite mentally prepared to return to active service.”

“Is everything alright, Genesis?” Hollander cut across Genesis’ further reasons.

Turning to the Professor, he gave a courteous nod, “yes, Professor, I just need a little while to recuperate mentally.” turning back to Lazard who already had the form in hand.

“Of course, Genesis, just sign here and tell me how long you’ll be gone for and I’ll put it through for immediate effect.” The good man was smiling, Genesis knew that Lazard was a good man at heart, he cared for his people.

* _Tell him you shall be gone a month; we can find my sister and the others then._ * Brother spoke as Genesis scribbled away. 

“There we go, I shall be gone for a month, if that is okay?”

Lazard nodded, “I see no reason why not. Get well soon, Commander.” Lazard shook Genesis’ hand, who then gave a salute, nodded at Hollander and left.  
Returning to the ground level of the ShinRa main building, Genesis made his way to the little coffee shop deep within the bowels of LOVELESS Avenue.   
It was a quaint little shop, the smell of coffee beans roasting away, and the freshly baked cakes, cookies and pastries were enough to draw the three of them here. It was also nice to get away from the gaggles of squealing girls that usually followed the three of them everywhere. The shop keeper – whom Genesis swore was a former Turk – kept their fan bases away by threatening to report them to the Turks for harassment. 

Spotting the other two in their usual booth, Genesis placed his order and made his way over to them, greeting the other regular goers as he passed.  
“I’m sorry for keeping you both waiting, I just had a little matter to attend to.”

“Is everything alright?” Sephiroth asked.

“I have put in for a month’s recreational vacation,” Genesis looked up to see both Angeal and Sephiroth looking shocked and puzzled.  
“I need to find Hermione again, I…” he thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “There is something wrong with my thought processes lately and she seems to have a soothing effect on me, almost like a drug.” He looked down at the coffee in front of him. “I cannot explain it any better than that.”

“What is wrong with your thought process, is it anything we have done? Or something we can help you with?” Sephiroth asked. It was unusual, Genesis knew, for Sephiroth to be so caring, he was always cold and often cruel, big headed… but then he had the right to be, he was ShinRa’s star General.

“It’s…” Again, Genesis had to choose his words, he did not want his next words to come out as an accusation. “All of this really began after I got that injury, from when I wouldn’t back down in the company training room.” Sephiroth nodded, “since then it has felt like I am being pulled somewhere, to something I don’t really think I want to be. Hermione, she helps me when my thoughts stray too dark or too dangerous.” He looked up at his friends, “the last thing I want to do is hurt anyone.”

Sephiroth hummed in thought as Angeal shivered. Genesis knew that Angeal had been the blood donor as his injury wasn’t healing, the dark thoughts Genesis spoke of were of Angeal not wanting to help anymore, that had been quite the confrontation as Genesis had let his emotions get the better of him. The two Banorans had not spoken in a week before Sephiroth made them sit together, words of apology were spoken and the two reconciled.  
“Perhaps you will, indeed, benefit from this vacation, Genesis.” Sephiroth spoke, finally. “We shall look forward to your return, give her our regards.” 

*********************************************************************

The next day, Genesis had packed a rucksack with some extra clothes and a lot of small weapons, materia and many kinds of concoctions to help them on their journey. The other two were still sleeping as he left, Brother by his side with his own rucksack.  
The two of them hitched a ride with a squadron of infantry who were on their way to his hometown of Banora, Brother told them to drop them in the middle of nowhere before focusing his energy into finding the bond with his sister. 

“There she is! And it is still just the three of them.” 

“Ron will return to her; of that I have no doubt.” Genesis spoke.

Brother looked at his friend sceptically. “I cannot believe you would happily let her go to someone like him.”

Genesis smirked, “I like Ron. I consider him to be a friend.”

“Yet he is trying to steal your Golden Flower from you?” Brother teased as the two of them walked through the door that had just materialised.

“Hahaha yes, there is that to consider, but the decision _is_ Hermione’s to make after all.” The door closed behind them as they stood in the middle of a dark forest, the first thing both noticed was the temperature.  
“Great Goddess its _cold_ here!” 

“Come on, they’re not far.” Brother led the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not long now, guys and gals, couple more chapters and we'll be done with this particular story.
> 
> Stay tuned! 
> 
> And remember, kudos and comment!! Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy


	15. Branded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes end up at Malfoy Manor and Hermione finds out some disturbing truths about her Crimson Angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the length of this one, there was a lot to get through lol
> 
> No matter though, two more chapters and we'll be done with this one!!

Hermione shivered as Harry took over from her watch, “I’ve made you a hot water bottle, try and get some sleep, eh?” he greeted as one entered the tent as the other left.

Other was fast asleep in the bottom bunk of Hermione’s two, _wait a minute, there are more beds here than when I went on watch._ She thought as she climbed into her bed, though she had noticed, she didn’t care, not right now. She just wanted to sleep.

*************************************************************************

Genesis and Brother walked for an hour at least before they saw a silver light coming from ahead. “What is that?” He asked, following Brother toward the light, finding Harry already following it; the light was formed into a beautiful silver doe, it was leading Harry somewhere. The two followed to ensure there were no ambushes.

Brother pulled Genesis to a stop as they reached the crest of a hill overlooking a small lake, frozen over from the cold.  
“Why has that thing led Harry to this place?” Genesis breathed, not wanting to alert any possible attackers.

“Long time no see,” Genesis whirled round, Brother slipping in his haste to move from the person behind them.  
“Genesis, Brother.”  
Standing above them was none other than Ron Weasley.

There was a splash behind them as Harry dove into the icy water, where Genesis realised in horror, Harry had also been wearing the Horcrux.  
Ron must have noticed this too, as he threw his rucksack at Brother, bolted down the hill and dove in after his now drowning friend.  
Genesis and Brother raced to the edge of the water to see Ron pulling Harry back to the surface with one hand and in the other were two objects; one was that retched Horcrux and the other was a glistening silver sword.

“Are you mental?!” those three words had Harry looking over at a sopping wet Ron, not really seeing him.

“R-Ron?” Harry then saw Genesis and Brother approach, Brother dropping two rucksacks.

“What the hell were you thinking, diving in there, no clothes on and the water is freezing bloody cold!” Ron continued to scold.

“What are you doing here?” Harry seemed to get over his shock and Genesis could see hints of anger and distrust in his eyes. “Why did you come back?”

Genesis watched as Ron struggled to find the words, one look in his direction told Genesis that the reason he came back was for…  
“She cried,” Harry’s voice broke Genesis’ thought process, “for a week, Ron. Not only did you break her heart, but you also fired the bloody Cruciatus Curse at her! And just to make matters worse you then run off into the unknown, whilst we carried on. She’s suffered because she’s missed you! There have been days where we haven’t spoken, weeks at the worst part of it… and to top it all off, Ron, _I_ have missed you too… and thank you, for pulling me out.” 

Genesis smirked, of course he had remained quiet, Ron had indeed been missed, and he will be glad to tell Angeal and Sephiroth of his return.  
“Now you just need to destroy that wretched thing, don’t you?” he asked, finally stepping into the conversation.  
Ron went to hand the sword to Harry, but Brother placed his hand on the blade, Genesis took note that Brother had a faint glow to him, but said nothing.  
“I believe, if what Hermione has already told me of this sword,” Genesis stepped up to look at the blade and took note of the power it held.  
“Only a true hearted Gryffindor can wield this sword, meaning that you, Ron, are the only one who can wield it and destroy the piece of darkness that has divided the three of you.”

What little colour Genesis could see in Ron’s face, disappeared. “I can’t, it affected me more than the other two… it made me hurt someone I care about deeply.” There was more to that sentence, but no one said anything, Genesis felt a pang of guilt, but only a pang.

“Then why did you come back?” Harry asked coldly. 

Genesis felt sorry for the boy. “Ron, the only way you are ever going to get over your guilt of walking away from them is to destroy the reason for leaving.” He placed a comforting hand on Ron’s shoulder, “face your fears SOLDIER.”  
Ron looked at Genesis for a moment before taking a deep, steadying breath and nodding, determined.

“If no one minds,” Brother spoke for the first time, “I am going to go back up the hill to hide my vomit.” Genesis frowned but stayed where he was. 

“Stay where I can see you, Brother. I know you get embarrassed, but please, stay where I can see you.” Getting a reluctant nod in reply, Genesis turned back to the two men who were laying the locket in place.  
“Anything I can do?” he asked.

“Just stay out of its way, there’s no telling what it will do or say, it could even turn the two of you on each other.” Harry advised, causing Genesis to hesitate.

_I do_ not _like the sound of that!_ He thought, he even considered going over to Brother when he heard Harry hiss (he had to think twice before he realised it was what Hermione had called Parseltongue) and was thrown back into the tree he had been in front of.  
“Oof! Whoa!” he covered his face with his arms as a pitch-black fog fell over the glade.

“Genesis!” Brother called, reaching out to him and clutching him tight. “Mother almighty I have never felt so…” Brother never finished his sentence as he promptly threw up.

*************************************************************************

Hermione woke suddenly to the sound of Other vomiting. “Other?” getting down from her bunk, Hermione rushed over to pull back her friend’s hair. “Are you alright?”

“They’ve opened the Horcrux!” this was all Hermione needed to hear, as both she and Other sat back down.

The she realised what Other had said. “Wait, you said ‘they’ who else is with Harry?”

Other looked over at her, “Shall we go and find out?”

With a flick of her wand, Hermione had everything packed leaving no trace of the camp or fire, and followed Other across to a glade where she was met with a horrifying sight.  
It was an almost naked version of herself and Harry, and they were talking with… “Ron?!” she breathed, relief closely followed by anger filled her.  
“ _Who would want you? You are nothing, nothing compared to the great Harry Potter._ ” Her shadow stated, then to her horror she embraced and kissed the shadow of Harry, it made her sick to her stomach, _Harry is more like a brother to me._ Hermione saw Ron lower the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, so Hermione did the one thing she could.

“Expecto Patronum.” She whispered, hiding away from sight, just letting her Otter go to Ron.

There was a cry and suddenly the fog was gone, as were the ghastly spectres.  
Harry’s voice was next to be heard, “she’s more like a sister to me, Ron. As I said to you earlier, she has missed you.”

Ron didn’t answer he just accepted Harry’s hug, then to Hermione’s surprise, Genesis came forward and embraced them both. “Well done SOLDIER. Now go and face your biggest challenge yet.”

“I don’t think I need to go far.” Ron moved to her hiding place, but Hermione never moved, she just stood and planted her feet.

Rounding the tree to face Ron, she began to hit him. “You – complete – and – utter – _arse_ – Ronald Weasley!” after saying his name, she felt someone grab her wrists only to find it was Ron.

*************************************************************************

Genesis watched with stunned humour as Hermione balled up her fists and battered Ron, he flinched and only caught her wrists when she had finally said his name.  
He watched as Other approached and embraced her Brother, he watched as Hermione’s anger ebbed and she threw herself into Ron’s chest and cried.  
“You have been gone for weeks and now only show up?” she accused.

Ron’s next words took them both by surprise, “well I couldn’t let Genesis steal you away from me, could I?” there was a light hearted tone to his voice that had Harry chuckling and even got a smile from his Golden Flower, but Genesis had a sudden thought.

_Had he known I was going to be here? And if so,_ am _I the real reason he came back to her?_ Genesis found he didn’t care, as no soon had those thoughts hit him, Ron had led Hermione down to Genesis. 

“Besides, I think he’s missed you as much as I have.” Ron pushed Hermione into Genesis, who wrapped his arms around her. “That Horcrux didn’t know me as well as it claimed.” The five others looked at Ron, “it’s not Harry I’m jealous of. Had it truly known my heart; it would have known that.” He looked at Genesis, “you alright, Genesis? You look paler than usual.”

“Bah, don’t you be worrying about me, I’m alright.” Genesis lied, throwing his arms around Harry and Ron, leaning down so that his head rested between them. “Let’s go and find another one on those wretched Horcruxes.” The boys all laughed as Genesis led them back up the hill, leaving Hermione, Brother and Other walking together behind them.

He continued to natter away to the boys as they returned to where the camp should have been, “Huh?” Harry cocked his head to the side in confusion. That confusion disappeared as suddenly as it appeared and Harry made an ‘ahh’ sound. “Ah, she must have packed everything up before she came after us.” Hearing a chuckle behind him, Genesis, turned to see Hermione waving her wand to set up the enchanted barriers. Harry and Ron started to gather the firewood.

“Well once Other had stopped vomiting, we came to see if you needed our help.” Hermione answered.  
Genesis watched her sway to the tune she was absently humming to herself as she waved her wand back and forth, he could just make out the thin wispy pale light coming from her wand as she began to glow with a power, he never knew she had. 

Genesis took note of the same glow coming from Other as his Golden Flower continued her magic.  
_She truly is the Goddess personified._ Thought Genesis as he set alight the wood that Ron and Harry had gathered. 

The enchantments done; Hermione came to sit next to Other who decided to huddle into Hermione.  
“Incendio Maxima.” Hermione flicked her wand and the small campfire grew bigger as Harry and Ron came and sat in the vacant spaces.  
“I’ll make a start on breakfast. “she stated suddenly, making Other jump. “Sorry, Other were you dozing off?” she teased, Other nodded, still looking a bit pale, as – Genesis noted – did Brother. 

“Yes, sorry. I’d like to go back to bed after breakfast, but I know we will need to move.” Genesis frowned. 

“Can we not linger out here for the day, Harry?” he asked. 

Harry hummed in thought, looking up at the trees, “I see no reason why not. Is that okay with you, ‘mione?” 

Genesis looked over at Hermione to see her with her eyes closed. “Yeah, sure, I could do with a break from travelling and Other could do with sleeping off whatever it is the two of you are suffering with.” 

*************************************************************************

Getting up from the fire, Hermione went into the tent and pilfered the cupboards for enough breakfast items, only for Ron to come in behind her and hold out a shopping bag.  
“Peace offering.” He said, Hermione could see the wariness in his eyes, as she took the bag from him and looked inside suspicious of what he had bought.

“How did you afford all of this?” she asked, pulling out a pack of bacon and a bag of sausages and put the frying pan on the gas stove.

“Bill gave it all to me, said that the freshness charm that’s on the food will wear off once I found you.” Ron took the bag from her and placed the rest of its contents into the chiller. 

“That was nice of him,” she replied, her voice clipped. She wasn’t going to let him off easily.

“Yeah… Look,” Ron took Hermione’s shoulders and turned her around so that she was facing him. “I know I can _never_ make up for what I did, or what I said and I am fully expecting you to hold this again me for the rest of my life, but believe me when I say that I am sorry, so sorry, for hurting you, for leaving you, and Harry,” he added as an afterthought.  
“But I am here to stay no matter what you may think…” he paused and Hermione could see the thought process as he chose his next words. “No matter what you decide, I will still be here.”

Hermione opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before shaking herself free of her stupor and returned to making breakfast for everyone.  
The group sat in silence as they ate, with breakfast done, Harry and Ron gathered the plates and went to wash them, only for Other and Brother to shoot up and out of the barriers, both of them had gone very pale.  
“Other, Brother wait!” Hermione and Genesis ran after their respective deity, leaving Harry and Ron.  
“Other!” Hermione followed her friend to the stream, where Brother and Genesis soon caught up to them, the siblings vomiting.

“Urgh…” Other fell into Hermione’s waiting arms, looking over at Genesis, Hermione noticed Brother in his arms.

“Back to camp?”  
Hermione offered her hand to him as an answer. She apparated close to the camp, then they carried the siblings through the enchantments and into the tent.

“What the bloody hell…?!” Ron started, Harry looking just as confused.

“I have no idea.” Hermione’s reply came as she and Genesis carried the siblings into the tent, lay them down and tended to the fevers that now raged.  
_What is this?_ She thought as the two now slept. 

####################

Two weeks had gone by since the destruction of the locket, Other and Brother had been well enough to travel once – again inside the forest – but Hermione had decided that the two should rest rather than travel.  
Looking around her, she saw the boys playing chess and Genesis rolling his shoulder having just trapped a muscle from fencing with himself.  
_Why do I feel like I’m being watched?_

###################

Uncle shivered as he wandered closer to the enchanted barriers. A hand fell onto his shoulder, but he didn’t startle.  
“Well met, Sister Dear.”

“Well met, Brother of Mine.” It was Mother Gaia.

Her slender figure pulled him away from the barriers for a moment as he took in a surprising fact.  
“You have changed your clothing, Sister Dear.”

She nodded. “So as to keep my Husband’s eyes away from my movements. He pays little heed to me these days.”

“Ah, so you read the book.” Getting only a nod in reply, he watched Mother Gaia as her eyes saddened.

“What is this?”

“The Horcruxes that the children are hunting, the darkness is so vast and thick that with each one destroyed, the two shall become stricken with a sickness like this one.” He explained.

“Is there nothing that can be done, at least to ease their suffering?”

“If there is, it eludes me, Sister Dear.”

They looked at one another before Mother had an idea. Uncle watched as she stretched her arms out in front of her. “Forgive me, Hermione, but I am in need of your power momentarily.”

###################

Genesis felt a shift in the air, Harry and Ron felt it too as they came to stand behind Hermione.  
“Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine, heal what has been hurt, change the fate’s design, save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine!”

“* _What once was mine_!*” the three boys all heard a second voice mixed in with Hermione’s. As Hermione sank to her knees and into Ron’s arms, Genesis saw a figure outside the tent and knew.

##################################

“Sister!” Uncle dove for his sister, concerned. “What have you done?!”

“Now I will become sick stead of them. That way, Genesis and Hermione do not have to worry over them.”

Uncle gave a low growl. “How like you, to sacrifice yourself like that.”

Mother chuckled. “I suppose I take after my Brother in that regards.”  
Smiling, Uncle held his sister as they heard the children waking from their slumber. 

############################

“Mother!” Both Other and Brother awoken suddenly, calling out for their mother, causing all of the tent’s inhabitants to jump.

“Great Gaia, don’t do that!” Genesis snapped, lowering his glowing hand.

The siblings groaned. “What happened to us?”

Genesis watched as Hermione shook her head and got up out of Ron’s arms. “Urgh what the _hell_ was _that_?!” 

“I think you have just been possessed by a Goddess, Hermione.” Genesis piped up, receiving looks from everyone.  
“I saw a woman collapse outside the tent, I think she was with someone as they are now no longer there, but I am pretty sure you were just possessed by their Mother, who has just used you to heal her children.”

“Mother…” Other looked down at her hands.

“She’s taken away the illness from us… meaning that now she will fall ill…” Brother looked over at the now empty jar that once held the Horcrux.

He watched Hermione shake her head again, turned to face the entrance to the tent and sighed. “Well whatever I saw, the two of you are healed…”

“Meaning the holiday is over.” Ron stated, picking up the book Hermione had dropped.

He watched Hermione nod. “To the Lovegoods then.” He stated.

######################

The group apparated about a mile away from the Lovegood residence, Hermione sighed softly and turned to Other. “How are you and your brother feeling?” 

They had begun to walk toward a hill, on top of which sat a little house, it looked like a chess piece.  
“We seem to be doing better, though we are curious as to why our Mother would help us, when she has abandoned us.”

Hermione hummed in thought, “I would never have taken her for that kind of a person. Not when she came to tell me and Genesis off anyway. She seemed genuinely miffed in my honest opinion.”

The two continued on in silence for few more minutes before they reached a very strange looking garden.  
“Brother and I are going to disappear, just whilst we’re here.” Other announced, not giving anyone chance to protest before they vanished.

“Okay… like _that_ wasn’t ominous.” Stated Ron, earning a chuckle from the remainder of the group.

Hermione stood between Ron and Genesis as Harry knocked the door, she let out a barely audible gasp of surprise at the haggard appearance of Mr. Lovegood.  
“M-Mr. Potter… y-you…”

* _Something is not right… neither myself nor Brother remember him stuttering or stumbling over his words._ * Other spoke, breaking Hermione out of her stupor.

Steeling herself, Hermione cleared her throat to speak only for the words to get stuck on their way out, fortunately, Genesis spoke up in her stead.  
“Hello again, Mr. Lovegood.” Genesis made his way to the front of the group, extending his hand as he did. “It is really good to see you again,” seeing the look of confusion on the older wizard’s face, Genesis seemed to tense up. “It’s me; Genesis Rhapsodos, we met at the wedding in the summer.”

Realisation crossed Xenophilius’ face and he cracked a twitchy smile. “Wh-why yes! I remember now! Forgive me, Commander, I haven’t been feeling well lately.”

Hermione watched Genesis nod as they were all invited inside. Hermione passed Genesis, who followed behind Harry, Ron having gone in first. Genesis leant down to Hermione and whispered “Other was right, he’s nervous about something,” before he sat down, keeping himself between Harry and Xenophilius.

“Well, what is it I can do for you all? If you’re here for Luna, she’ll be back shortly; she’s down at the creek, you see.”

_In this cold?_ Hermione thought, “that’s fine, Mr. Lovegood, we actually need your help.” Harry spoke.

“Helping Harry Potter is something of a dangerous task these days.” Xenophilius answered, looking directly at Harry.

“And yet, the magazines your machine is still churning out, is telling people to keep up the support for Harry.” Genesis purred, Hermione could see suspicion growing in those eyes.

“It’s easier to tell others to support someone that to actually do it yourself, right Mr. Lovegood?” Ron stated.

Xenophilius said nothing and looked out of the window. “Where’s Luna, Mr. Lovegood?” Hermione asked.

“As I said, she’s down at the creek, she’ll be on her way back soon. Now,” he turned back to Harry. “What is it that I could help you with?” 

“That symbol you were wearing at the wedding, we’ve seen it since then, in various forms, we would like to know what it is.” Harry answered.

Xenophilius fidgeted, nervous eyes flickered to the window. “You mean the Deathly Hallows?”

“The what?” four voices chorused, Hermione took note that Other and Brother exchanged looks with each other, they seemed to have heard of this.

“The Deathly Hallows are three items that make one a master of death, it was written in the book The Tales of Beedle the Bard as the Tale of the Three Brothers. I have a copy here somewhere, I’ll find it and read it to you.”

As Xenophilius got up, Hermione remembered what Dumbledore had bequeathed her. “Mr. Lovegood, I have a copy here.” She pulled it out of her little bag and held it up.

“Well then, Miss Granger, please read it for us.”  
Hermione frowned but flipped through the pages none the less.

#########################################################################

Genesis sat patiently. He knew something was wrong. _It must be something to do with Luna, because even_ she _is not silly enough to go down to a creek in this chill._

His thoughts were silenced, however, when Hermione started to recite the story.

“There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight.” Genesis was suddenly struck with the fantasy of having his beloved LOVELESS recited by his Golden Flower, secretly wondering if he could get her to record her voice for him.  
“In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure  
And Death spoke to them –”

Genesis frowned, “Sorry, but _Death_ spoke to them?” 

“It’s a fairy tale, Genesis.” Hermione answered, a slight sharpness to her voice, indicating that she hated to be interrupted. 

Genesis smirked and waved his hand, “my apologies, please carry on.”

He saw her smirk back at him before returning to the story, “and Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each of them had earned a prize for being clever enough to evade him.  
“So, the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful that any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death. So, Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.”

“So, he wanted a wand that meant he could cheat?” Genesis asked, receiving no reply, he continued to listen. 

“Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So, Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.”

Genesis got up and stretched, rolling his shoulder as he did so, _blasted pain has been getting worse as the days have gone by!_

“Then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So, he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own cloak of invisibility.”

“Wait, Death’s got a cloak of invisibility?” Genesis heard Harry asked, this caused a bit of banter to pass between him and Ron.

“Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death’s gifts.  
“In due course the three brothers separated, each for his own destination. The first brother travelled to a village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand, he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.  
“That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine-sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother’s throat.  
And so, Death took the first brother for his own.”

Genesis looked over at Xenophilius who was still staring out of the window, his eyes vacant, it was then that Genesis realised Xenophilius had a familiar look, but Genesis was too interested in the rest of the story to think of why. 

“Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.  
“Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as though by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as truly to join her.  
And so, Death took to second brother for his own.”

There was a small pause as Hermine took a sip of the vile liquid that Xenophilius called tea, Genesis watched her grimace before she continued.  
“As for the third brother, though Death searched for him for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and departed this world as equals.”

Genesis wanted to applaud Hermione for the way she had read those words, but he had a sudden shudder run down his spine.  
Xenophilius got to his feet and picked up his wand and, with a shaking hand, drew shapes in the air. “The Elder Wand,” he drew a straight line down, “the Resurrection Stone,” the base of the circle he drew sat the straight line, “The Cloak of Invisibility.” He encompassed the previous two in a triangle. “The three of them combined make one a Master of Death… they are what he is searching for.”

There! That was what Genesis had seen in people that had been threatened with a loved one, but then that meant… “You-Know-Who is looking for them?” Hermione had asked, though Genesis knew that they had walked into something they would be lucky to get out of, now he understood why Other and Brother had hidden away.

“Yes, he wants them, and he has my Luna, Voldemort has my Luna!”

“Genesis get them out of there, now!” Brother shouted, he and his sister became visible, causing Xenophilius to startle.

###########################################

Hermione spun round, having heard Brother shouting. “Harry!” she called as her friend doubled over in pain.

“They’re coming!” he stated through gritted teeth.  
Ron, Genesis, Other and Brother all gathered around Hermione and she felt them all touch her as she apparated, making sure that the Death Eaters all saw Harry before she did.

They all landed hard, Hermione landing on her back, winded.  
“The traitorous little toe-rag!” Ron raged as she saw Genesis haul him to his feet.

“They had Luna, Ron,” Harry answered, Brother pulling him to his feet as Other came into her view.

“You alright?” Other pulled her to her feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine…” She stopped; Genesis was still.

"Genesis?” she took one step towards him before she heard rustling.

Snatchers.

“Hello, pretty.” Hermione felt herself pale as Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf, approached her, stalking her as though she were prey… well to him she probably was.

There were no words, the group just all took off in the same direction, including Genesis who stuck close to Ron.  
Hermione and Other ran together, casting a quick glance, Hermione saw Brother and Harry running together as well, _they both need to disappear!_ She thought, her lungs fit to burst as she leapt over fallen trees and hidden roots, the wind seemingly guiding her through her trail.

“Gah! No, keep going, Ron!” she was vaguely aware of Genesis shouting, looking back, she saw Ron narrowly miss the binding spell that had floored Genesis.  
“Grrah!” she couldn’t hear him after the snarl.

She saw Other turn on her heel, her divine bow pulled taut as she released arrows. Slowing, Hermione felt the wind get stronger, * _keep going! Do not look back!_ * Other’s voice rang through her head, so she ran.  
Ron fell in front of her as she leapt over him, he too calling for her to continue running; that just left her and Harry.  
Seeing Snatchers to her left and to Harry’s right, she headed up the high ground and found Harry running directly below her. Reaching the other side of the high-rise, she stopped, turned to Harry and shot a disfiguring spell at him, making his face unrecognisable.  
With a wave of her hands her wand shrank and flew into the beaded bag and just in time too, as she was forced to her knees from a binding spell.

Ron, Genesis and Harry were all grouped with her, Genesis seemed to be bleeding.  
“Get off of her! Oomph!” Ron and Genesis were both punched in the gut, as Hermione was dragged to her feet and roughly shoved into a tree.

“Your boyfriends need to learn to be’ave themselves, or they’re gonna get ‘urt.” The lead Snatcher approached her and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. “What’s your name, pretty?”  
She stayed silent, he tugged roughly on the base of her neck, causing her to gasp. “Ow!” the Snatcher pulled back, shaking his hand, before seeing his sleeve was on fire. “’ow’d you do that?!” 

“Penelope Clearwater.” She said quickly, “half-blood.” _Why did you do that, stupid idiot!_ She chastised herself, but it was only a natural instinct for her to do that when threatened.  
It was then she realised there were two missing.

The Snatched patted his sleeve down, sneering as he did. “Check it. What about the other two?” 

“Dead.” One of the dumber looking ones answered, Hermione froze from struggling, as, she noticed, did Genesis.

“No…” she breathed, anger bubbling up inside her again, eyes flaring. “NO!” she screamed.

“You bastards!” Genesis shouted, managing to break loose of his binding spell.

“Crucio.” The lead Snatcher fired the Cruciatus curse at Genesis, sending him crashing to the ground, a small scream escaping his mouth as he fell.

“Told you, ‘e’d get ‘urt if ‘e didn’t be’ave.” The Snatcher turned to Harry. “What ‘appened to you, Ugly?”  
When Harry didn’t answer the Snatcher held his chin and asked again.

“Dudley, Vernon Dudley.” Hermione realised that the spell she had shot at him was going to start wearing off soon, but it didn’t matter, Other and Brother… 

“Boys, I think we’ve ‘it the jackpot, this one’s gotta go to the bosses.” The lead Snatcher breathed looking at the place where Harry’s scar was supposed to be.  
The group was then apparated to black gates beyond which stood black stoned manor, the letter M stood on the top of the gates; _this couldn’t be Malfoy Manor?_ She thought to herself as she was dragged through the gates and through a neatly trimmed but grimly coloured garden.  
Upon being dragged into the house, Hermione took note of how cold it was in here, a surge of pity washed over her as she thought that this was how Draco Malfoy had lived. _No wonder he is the way he is._ She thought.  
They entered what she thought was the great hall, it was dark just like the rest of the house, no light seemed to reach this place.  
“Why have you brought these Undesireables here?” Lucius Malfoy sneered, Hermione quickly cast a wicca glamor spell over her, Ron and Harry, knowing that they would be dead in an instant if she didn’t.  
“We thought you’d might like to see the one with the ugly face, Mr. Malfoy, sir.” The lead Snatcher said quietly.

A woman with wild hair approached the group; Bellatrix Lestrange. She was a nasty woman, years in Azkaban having made her crazy, sadistic in nature, she loved to torture.  
“Well, what have we here?” Bellatrix gaped at Harry, “Draco! Come here!”  
A very pale Draco Malfoy shuffled forward, he looked like he was going to be sick, his usually pale skin looking paler, as though the slightest sneeze would cause him to keel over.  
“Look closely, Draco, is it _him_?!” She breathed into his ear. Hermione took a quick glance at Genesis, he was still, frowning, like he was listening to something.

Hermione attempted to get into Malfoy’s head to control his speech and thinking, she hated doing this, but it was a matter of life and death. _Get out of my head, Granger. I won’t say anything, I want this nightmare to end and you, Weasley and Potter are the only way I know how._ “I don’t know.” Hermione struggled to keep surprise out of her eyes; Draco Malfoy had felt her presence and had spoken to her. “I don’t think it’s him, the Snatchers must be trying to cash in on the reward, it’s an almost perfect double too.” Hermione couldn’t believe what she was hearing, neither did his family.

“You rotten little snot!” the lead Snatcher shrieked, “we didn’t fake this! ‘ow could we?!”

Narcissa Malfoy turned to the Snatchers, her wand in her hand. “How dare you speak to my son that way! Get out, now!!” she sent them all packing.  
“OUT NOW!!” She turned back to her husband.  
“Call him anyway, Lucius, we’ll have him tell us.”

_Wow and I thought Molly had a temper._ Hermione found herself thinking. She was so surprised that she didn’t even notice Bellatrix looking at her until she was in her face glaring at her.

“Where did you get that sword?!”  
Hermione went cold, she was in for it.  
“TELL ME!!” She flinched as Bellatrix pulled out her wand and ropes wrapped themselves around the boys’ wrists.  
“Put the boys in the cellar, Wormtail,” Peter Pettigrew – Wormtail – came shuffling over to Bellatrix and took control of the rope as Bellatrix continued to talk, holding Hermione in place by her hair. “I want to talk to this one. Girl. To. Girl!”

It was then the boys all started to protest, Ron and Genesis pulling hard and in vain, calling out her name.

Their cries were quietened and Hermione could feel her heart rate quickening.  
She was released, stumbling backwards, her survival instincts kicked in and she backed away from the crazed witch in front of her, knowing that if she ran, she would doom all of her friends.  
 _Guess I’ll have to endure it._ She cowered back in fear as Bellatrix flicked her wand and threw Hermione across the room, where she landed at the feet of Draco Malfoy. She did not dare to beg him for help, lest she incur further ridicule.  
Feeling something pull her from her ankles back the way she had been thrown, she was suddenly lay on her back, Bellatrix Lestrange leaning over her.

“Did you take anything else from my vault?!” she spat, fear gripping Hermione as she started to cry.

“No!” she wept.

“LIAR!” screamed the deranged witch.

Suddenly, an eerily familiar sensation of being set on fire and stabbed at the same time washed over her body, her body convulsed as the curse – much stronger than the last one – ended.  
“How did you get into my vault?!”

“We didn’t get into it-!”

Bellatrix screamed as did Hermione, one in anger, one in pain. “You must have done! How else did you get the sword?"

Hermione gasped for breath a heavy feeling on her chest, she felt broken. “W-we found it! In a wooded glade! That’s the truth! AAHHH!” Obviously, Bellatrix wasn’t going to believe the truth, she leant over Hermione’s left arm and began to carve something into her arm, her victim’s screaming going unheard.  
Hermione began to pray that this pain ended soon…

###########################################

Genesis’ shoulder was throbbing with two kinds of pain, one was the normal pain from his injury, the other was because he and Ron had been shoulder barging the door to break it open, his Golden Flower’s screams ringing through his ears.  
“I don’t think it’s going to work, you two.” The dreamy voice of Luna Lovegood sounded behind him.  
They had found her along with a Goblin named Griphook and Mr. Ollivander of the wand shop in the cellar where he, Harry and Ron had been thrown, whilst Hermione had been kept upstairs.

“Really?” Ron snapped sarcastically, “I hadn’t noticed!” Genesis cocked an eyebrow at him, as he watched Ron take a deep, steadying breath, before striding over and gently hugging Luna. “I am so sorry, Luna, I didn’t mean to snap at you!”

Luna smiled and patted his back, “it’s okay, I’m worried about her too.”

Genesis leant against the bars, his shoulder was really hurting, it was beginning to feel like something was growing under the skin, though there was no lump or inflammation to indicate anything.  
“We need to get out of here. Physical force isn’t going to work and Hermione has everybody’s wands in her bag…” Then he had a lightbulb moment. “Oh! Oh, I am an _idiot_!”  
Genesis patted himself down, relieved to find that not everything he had brought with him had been left in the tent. Pulling out his materia pouch, Genesis searched for a Blizzaga materia, it was the strongest ice magic that he possessed besides his synthesised Shiva Summon.

“Um, what’s that?” He heard Harry ask, hearing hums of equal confusion coming from behind him.

Genesis just smirked, seeing that it still worked in this world, _though if I recall correctly, the twins did say that the materia would only work for a short period of time._ The thought of Other and Brother made him twinge in pain.  
Not thinking or giving an answer, Genesis approached the door, placing his hand over the lock and pushed his power through the materia, sending the ice through the keyhole and breaking the lock.  
“Ha! Your world really doesn’t know how to contain _me_!”  
He was about to push open the door when he heard a loud _crack_ directly behind him. “What the hell-?”

Stood in front of him was a small creature dressed in a pillowcase, socks and shoes, his tennis ball green eyes wide-eyed as he searched the room for someone. “Harry Potter!” it squeaked.

“Dobby?! What are you doing here?” Harry asked, stooping down to grasp the little creature’s hands.

“Dobby has come to rescue Harry Potter and his friends.” Genesis was now confused.

“What are _you_?” he asked without even thinking about it.

Harry and Dobby looked up at him, “Dobby is a House-elf, sir.”

“Ah, so this is what they look like,” Genesis got down on his knees and extended a hand. “I am Genesis Rhapsodos. It’s a please to meet you.”

Dobby took his hand before turning Ron, who asked, “do you know how to get to Shell Cottage?”

Dobby nodded, “of course, sir, I’m an elf.”

“Take Luna, Griphook and Ollivander there, then come back and get us, we’ve got to get Hermione.” Harry ordered and the elf took Luna, Griphook and Ollivander’s hands and with a _crack_ disappeared.

Genesis’ ears picked up a sound. “Someone’s coming.” Backing off into the dark corner in the cellar, Genesis stilled his breath and squinted his eyes to hide to glow.  
Down the steps came Peter Pettigrew, his silver hand glinting in the minimum light. Steeling himself, Genesis was about to jump the little creep when Harry and Ron jumped him first.

Pettigrew struggled, and – to Genesis, at least – the hand acted on its own to wrap itself around Harry’s throat as he gasped, “you owe me!” Harry gasped.

There was a moment were Pettigrew seemed to hesitate, Genesis watched his hand pull back only for Pettigrew to scream in terror and the hand then turned on him.  
“Sweet Goddess!” Genesis swore, racing to help Harry pull the arm back, only to be pulling in vain as the silver hand wrapped around Pettigrew’s throat, choking the life out of him.

“Damn it!” Genesis pulled back.

The three of them all looked up to the now open door where they could still hear Hermione screaming. Genesis felt anger burn deep within him as he watched the other two bolt up the stairs, something in his gut telling him to hold back and hide, knowing he could be useful if he hid in the shadows.

He had to applaud the two boys for their skills with the wands they had just apprehended, they were quick and disarmed all of the others, before the witch with the wild hair hauled his Golden Flower to her feet, a knife to her throat.  
It was then, that Genesis stepped out, quietly, calculating every step, even though others could see him, he stalked his way to the back of the woman, who had her arm out, a black tattoo of a skull vomiting a snake wriggling around her arm, turning a darker shade of black to signify a call.  
Genesis called his rapier to his hand and raised it to rest at the witch’s throat.  
“Release her, or I’ll cut you _throat_!” he snarled, then frowned as he and the witch looked up to the ceiling at the sound of squeaking.

There he saw little Dobby sat on top of the chandelier, unscrewing it. Lowering his blade, Genesis looped his arm around Hermione’s waist and launched them both over to the boys and away from the now falling chandelier.

The centre hoop was wide enough to miss the witch, comically leaving her in the middle of it.  
“You crazy elf!” she screamed, deafening Genesis in the process as Hermione ran to Ron and Harry; he, himself, turned to face the witch as Dobby answered.

“Dobby did not wish to kill, only to wound or seriously maim.” Genesis smirked, though the smirk disappeared when he saw an arm raise to his right. He watched as Dobby – seeing this – disarmed another witch that he remembered was the boy’s mother.

“You infidel! How _dare_ you take a witch’s wand!” screamed the wild witch, “how _dare_ you defy your MASTERS!” she screeched.

Genesis watched the little elf puff himself up with pride and replied, “Dobby has no master! Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to rescue Harry Potter and his friends!” Genesis spun round to grab hold of Ron and Hermione as Dobby disappeared with them all in tow.

Genesis, Ron and Hermione fell into a wet sandy beach, a waved of ice-cold ocean water washing over Genesis as he shielded the other two from the most of it.  
“Hermione…” Harry’s voice met his ears as he and Ron pulled Hermione to her feet. “Y-you’re okay now… you’re safe.”

“Harry Potter…” Hearing a small voice, Genesis turned and saw the brave little house elf, Dobby, clutching his stomach, a shining silver dagger stuck deep, blood spreading over his clothes.

“Dobby?!” Harry raced over to his friend, Genesis too rushed over to try and help, knowing that Hermione would be safe with Ron. “Genesis…” Harry struggled for words and Hermione now joined him to help heal the little hero.  
Genesis knew, though, that it would be in vain as the little elf huddled closer into Harry’s chest.

“Such a beautiful place…” Dobby spoke, his voice quieting, “to be with friends.” And the brave house elf Dobby went still and silent.

Genesis stood and looked to the sky, rain starting to pour as Harry sobbed over his friend. _A storm is coming._ Genesis thought.  
Feeling something wrap around his waist, Genesis looked down to see Hermione burying her face into his chest, her hand still in Ron’s.  
Wrapping his arms around Hermione’s shoulders, he looked over at Ron and nodded, silent understanding between the two.  
“We should bury him.” He stated.

“I want to do it properly,” sobbed Harry, standing with the little elf in his arms. “No magic. Up there in the dunes, he can see the ocean and be free then.”  
Genesis nodded and Ron led the way to a quaint little cottage just off the dunes, there he was greeted with the sight of Fleur and Bill.

“Oh Merlin’s beard!” Bill exclaimed, racing out to meet them, taking Ron into a hug as Fleur took Hermione out of Genesis’ grip and looked at her exposed arm, gasping as she did.  
When Genesis looked over, he grimaced as he saw that the word “Mudblood” had been carved into her skin.  
“Bloody hell…” Bill breathed, pushing everyone inside. “Come on, Hermione, let’s get that looked at.”

Fleur, Genesis, Harry and Ron cleaned up the fallen elf’s body, cleaning the blood and closing the wound, dressing him in a fine shirt, trousers and shoes, then they covered him over with a nearby tablecloth.  
“Zere, ‘e looks most ‘andsome now, I am so sorry for your loss ‘arry!” she breathed, speaking quietly.

Genesis took a breath and turned to Hermione, who was now sat under a blanket, her knees under her chin, her face pale, her eyes hollow.  
“Well that explains the pain you were in, Sister.”

Everyone jumped and looked over to the door, there stood Brother, looking a little shaken, but otherwise unharmed, unlike Other, who looked just like Hermione.  
“How… we were told you were _dead_!” Genesis felt anger stir. “Why didn’t you _tell_ us?!” he strode over to Brother, grabbing him by the front of his clothes and pinned him up against the wall.  
“We _grieved_ over you two!!"

“We’re sorry, Genesis.” A small voice broke through Genesis’ rage, looking down he saw Other clutching her arm, “mudblood” cut into her arm too. “But we had to disappear, plus we were in pain and were unable to move far.”

Genesis heaved a sigh, resigned and let go of Brother, before pulling him into a tight hug.  
He then started as he heard the sound of flesh being slapped, looking over at Other he saw that Hemione had moved up to Other and slapped her, tears streaming down her face. “You-”

“Complete and utter arse?” Other smiled gently as Hermione wrapped her arms around Other and sobbed openly.  
“I know. I’m sorry. We wanted to help, but we couldn’t.”

Bill approached Genesis, “are _you_ hurt, Genesis?” he asked.

“Just a persistent pain in my shoulder, but it’s nothing new to be honest.” He took a look at Harry as he and Ron picked up a couple of shovels. “Can I help, Harry?”

Harry looked over at him, “can you find a headstone for him?” Nodding, Genesis got up and followed everyone back up the dunes, a storm was brewing over the ocean, but it was going to miss here.

Genesis wandered left over to a rocky portion of the beach, his eyes sweeping over the rocks, searching for the best one.  
Suddenly a white-hot pain shot through Genesis’ shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. Tripping over a loose rock, Genesis fell hard onto his left side, his shoulder blade burning, the feeling of something tearing through his skin made him curl up into a ball, clutching his left side, crying out in pain as tears fell from his eyes.

########################################

Hermione and Other leapt to their feet to catch the now screaming Brother. “What is it? What’s wrong?!” Hermione asked.

“Ahhh – it’s G-Gene-sis!” Brother croaked as her writhed in pain.

Without thinking, Hermione raced out of the cottage, Fleur and Bill on her tail, she didn’t need to know where he was as she saw Harry and Ron racing back down the dunes and to her left.  
Finally reaching Genesis, she saw him also writhing in pain, curled in a ball. “Genesis?” she called, kneeling down beside him, the sharp pain of the rocks digging into her knees going unnoticed.  
She could feel him twitching, pulling him to get his attention, she asked, “where does it hurt?”

“Shoulder!” was all he could say before a severe spasm caused him to cry out in pain.

Keeping one hand on his right shoulder, she ran her free hand down first his right shoulder blade and then – finding nothing – down his left side, where she found a lump and it was moving, as though something was crawling just beneath his skin. “My god.” She breathed, calming her nerves, she placed him under a sleeping spell that she used to use on Ron when he had been splinched.  
“There, that should have put them both out.”

“Move over, Hermione, I’ll lift him and we’ll get him back to the cottage.” Bill stated, raising his wand.

“Ron and I’ll get back to digging Dobby’s grave,” stated Harry, “let us know if there’s any change.” With a pat on Hermione’s shoulder, Harry and Ron walked back up the dunes, Ron, giving a last look as Hermione turned away to follow Bill back to the cottage.

“What happened?!” Other was beside Hermione in seconds.

“No idea.” She said perhaps a little too sharply.

Once Bill had placed Genesis and Brother in another bed, Hermione waited for their hosts to leave before waving her hand in front of her, “sleep.” She commanded and watched as Ollivander fell to sleep.  
Turning back to the bed, Hermione shook Genesis gently. “Genesis, can you hear me?” Getting no response, she nodded. “That’s good, now let’s have a look.”

Taking care not to wake either of the sleeping wounded, Hermione and Other removed their coats and shirts, exposing their flesh, both had scars that neither had known about, but what Hermione was looking for was not difficult to find.  
“What the _hell_ is _this_?!” Other breathed causing Hermione to jump.

“It looks as though their degradation is causing a mutation of some sort.” Hermione stated, humming in thought.  
Looking over at Other she had a thought. “Can you take me over to the other world? Just us two.”  
Seeing Other looking at her as though she had gone mad, Hermione elaborated, “I have mind reading capabilities, with those abilities comes other benefits such as copying knowledge that others have that I may be able to use, fighting styles and the works, sort of like a mind-meld.”

“That’s not why I’m looking at you like I am,” Other hissed, “I know _who_ you want to see! You know full damn well what will happen if you do this!”

Now it was Hermione’s turn to look surprised, “I’ve never heard you swear before,” smiling at the deity, Hermione just shrugged, “they’ll never know it was me, I just want to get some information on _this_ ,” she waved at the two unconscious men. “It’ll just be for a moment, I promise.”

“I can’t just make an opening for such a short space of time….” Hermione watched Other look out of the window, Harry and Ron were still digging. “Tell me who it is and I can take you spiritually. But it’ll be just one person.”

Nodding, Hermione thought for a moment, who would be the best to know about Genesis…? Placing two fingers gently on Genesis’ temple and closed her eyes, images flashed through her mind until she got to where she needed to be, finding what she was looking for, she opened her eyes and spoke. “Hollander.”

She waited for Other to nod, taking her now outstretched hands, Hermione closed her eyes and felt time around her stop.  
As she felt herself lift, Hermione opened her eyes to see nothing but green mist around her. “Where are we?” she asked, her voice sounding as though it was coming from different directions all at once.

“The Lifestream, the life blood of Gaia. Follow this and we find our man.” Other gave no other explanation to this as she pulled Hermione into the stream where she gave a squeak, feeling the mist seemingly enter every fibre of her being.  
“Hold on tight, I do not want you to get lost.” Other instructed.

Hermione gripped the only solid thing she could, but it a difficult, so many voices, so many people, so much _knowledge_ …

**_“Hello there. Don’t worry, you’ll be out of here soon, just remember what you’re here for.”_** A soft voice reached out to her, making her realise that her hand was slipping.

Reasserting her grip, Hermione saw a light. “Is that our destination?” she asked.

“Yes. I cannot follow you inside, just find what you need and then get out, I shall be waiting to pull you back.”

Hermione felt herself land, only the world appeared in sepia. _Okay, I know what the person I need to find looks like, so let’s… hold on._

It was then that Hermione could see that she was wandering through someone’s memory. A young Hollander was walking with a woman, she looked a little like Angeal… _his mother?_  
Hermione noticed several others all in the centre of the square, she followed them as they talked.  
 _“Welcome Hollander, Gillian! Now then let’s get to business.”_ A man she didn’t recognise greeted them.  
 _“Alright, now that we are all here, let’s get down to business, Banora is where the specimen is currently being held, this is where we shall conduct the experiments to see if we can create an enhanced army for ShinRa ready for a war should it arise.”_

Hermione listened to him waffle on about the ins and outs of ethical workings and how to not endanger human lives, before everyone went their separate ways.  
She watched the sky in mild fascination as the days turned to nights and so on, until the man she now understood to be Hollander came out of a house with the same woman.  
 _“Gillian, you and I are going to be the front runners of Project G, the newly formed JENOVA Project has the green light, we shall begin at once!”_

“Gillian?” she spoke out loud, watching the days turn again, only this time she saw the woman standing to one side as Hollander spoke to a couple she had not seen before. He had returned to her with a smile on his face, as though a gambler had just won the jackpot.

_“Now, we must ensure that things go well, that scientist and his wife have agreed to artificial insemination and will bear_ this _child, whilst we, ourselves, create another, better to have a fall back just in case.”_  
Did she just hear what she had? If that woman was Angeal’s mother and they were talking about that then… “She was Genesis’ mother too? Or at least at conception… oh God!”  
She watched, this time the woman as she was injected with something, she had not noticed this before, but given the precision this was done with, Hermione assumed this was what had happened with the first conception.  
Here the two women gave birth round about a year out from one another, with Genesis coming first and Angeal second.

Having ran tests on the two infants, Hermione saw Hollander get angry. _“What?! No changes at all? They are completely human?! ARGH!”_

The time period changed, her surroundings changed, she was now in the ShinRa labs, watching her beloved Genesis walk out of the room, Angeal behind him, both flexing their arms as they did, “a blood transfusion?” she asked the air, looking back as Hollander spoke.  
 _“Degradation… so their cells are not as stable as Sephiroth’s, nor that of the Kancheewa girl… no matter, I shall fix this flaw and Hojo and Sakura will be kissing my shoes by the time this is over!”_

Hermione felt like she was going to be sick. “Other get me out of here!!” she screamed. Shrieking as she opened her eyes to find herself back at Shell Cottage.  
“They really are degrading, and it’s not just them, Angeal will be too!” Hermione whispered, “and those inconsiderate pigs in those labs don’t care!”   
“You sound surprised at that.” Gasping, Hermione turned to see Genesis and Brother awake and sat up, both of them rubbing their shoulders.

“How long have you two been awake?” Asked Other.

“Long enough.” The boys replied.

Hermione sat down next to Genesis. Threading her hand through his. “I don’t care. I’ll help you in any way I can.”

She watched Genesis give a soft chuckle, “if only there were something you _could_ do.” He placed a delicate kiss on her forehead. “But now I know what _I_ must do.”  
She blinking up at him, not understanding. “I’ll see you soon, my Golden Flower.”

And with that, Genesis and Brother disappeared, leaving Hermione with a solitary tear sliding down her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, kudos and/or comment! Let me know what you think!!


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